FIRST MEETING OF THE ALIGNMENT PROCESS WITH FULL MEMBERSHIP OF THE GA
– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at First Meeting of the Alignment Process with full membership of the GA”
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen – Good morning
I am pleased to be here at the second meeting of the alignment process this session – the first with the full membership of the General Assembly.
I would like to, once again, thank the co-facilitators, Her Excellency Ambassador Rhonda King, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and His Excellency Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, Permanent Representative of Belgium, for accepting this important task. Congratulations on ably leading the alignment process thus far.
Looking through last year’s recommendations, I see a common theme, which is, dialogue. It encourages us to coordinate more, to listen to one another and to find the best ways for each of us to proceed. It calls for breaking down of walls between committees and organs while still maintaining their roles.
And as we enter the third year of implementing the 2030 Agenda, we must get our internal work in line. Only then can we faciliate the implementation of the most ambitious development Agenda yet.
If you permit me, I would like to briefly outline why we are here and where we are trying to go.
First, I would like us to locate ourselves on a timeline.
In the 70 plus years of the United Nations, we adopted in 2015 the most ambitious development agenda yet, namely, the Sustainable Development Goals. We are now entering the third year of implementing it. But we need to get our house in order.
This was recognised in the 69th session. As a result, Ambassador Mejía of Colombia was appointed to lead the work, supported by four members of the General Committee in the 70th session. And we have them to thank for the „Report on Strategic Alignment of future sessions of the General Assembly with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development“ – a mapping exercise of 77 pages!
In the 71st session, the work continued under the able leadership of the Permanent Representatives of Argentina and Australia. Their recommendations were given in a report issued last July. And I have already acted on some of these recommendations.
As you may know, I meet with the President of the ECOSOC monthly – and alignment features prominently in these conversations. Also, prior to appointing the co-facilitators to lead this process, I met with all committee chairs to discuss the way forward.
And during my meeting with the General Committee in December, to discuss this strategic alignment, I was given the mandate to appoint co-facilitators for this process.
So, this sequence of events has brought us here today. Now, we must look ahead.
We have a lot of work to do in the 72nd session to build on the foundation from the previous two sessions. And we need to deliver.
If we neglect this now, we risk not being prepared for the journey to 2030.
The task ahead is long and difficult. But the time in which to accomplish it is only getting shorter. This means that we must work consistently with the end goal in mind.
So, in conclusion, let me stress that, we are here to discuss ways to better organize our work in light of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. This will take a lot of talking – but more importantly – a lot of listening.
We often speak about the need to turn the committments on paper into action on the ground. And when we think of implementation, we think of financing, capacity building and projects. This is true. But we also have to think about how we organize ourselves internally to maximize results. Because we have both gaps and overlaps. And we need to address them.
So, I wish you success in the upcoming weeks. And I have no doubt that we can deliver under the able leadership of our co-facilitators.
Ambassadors, let me reiterate that my office stands ready to assist.
Thank you.