Opening remarks by Mr Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the General Assembly, at Second Briefing on Global Indicator Framework for SDGs
28 January 2016
Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, good morning to you all.
We are now in the final days of January.
Almost one month has passed since the 2030 Agenda came into effect.
During these early days, it is critical that we maintain the momentum generated from the successes of 2015.
To do so, we need to see action from all actors; demonstrating their commitment to ending poverty and achieving sustainable development over the next fifteen years.
For those of us here in New York, this means completing the final pieces of the jigsaw, so that the tools to support implementation are all in place.
This includes the topic before us this morning: the Global Indicator Framework which help us to determine whether commitments made in 2015 are actually leading to change or not.
As requested in the 2030 Agenda, the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals Indicators, through an open and inclusive consultative process, has produced a list of proposed global indicators for agreement by the Statistical Commission.
That list is contained in an annex to the Group’s Report, which I referred to in my letter dated January 14 and I hope that you have all had a chance to read through it.
The report indicates that most of the proposed indicators have been agreed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group, though some others, which are marked with an asterisk, need further work.
I understand the Inter-Agency and Expert Group is working on those indicators right now and will submit its updated proposals to the Statistical Commission in an Addendum to the current report.
Thereafter, the Statistical Commission will review the indicator framework at its 47th Session which will take place from 8 to 11 March.
Once agreed by the Commission, the framework will be submitted to the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly for adoption.
Today, we are joined remotely by Mr. John Pullinger, Chair of the UN Statistical Commission and Mr. Enrique Ordaz, Co-chair of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group.
We are also joined here by Mr. Schweinfest and Ms. Perucci from the UN DESA Statistics Division.
After briefings on the latest developments and the way ahead, the floor will be open for comments and questions.
I encourage you all to take advantage of this opportunity.
Now is the time to register whatever questions or concerns you may have so that they can be either addressed today or brought to the attention of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group ahead of the Statistical Commission’s forthcoming session.
Thank you.