H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for joining this first Thematic Consultation on “Follow-up to the report of the Secretary-General entitled Our Common Agenda.”
The recommendations within the Secretary-General’s report extend across the entirety of the United Nations, touching on every Member State, the entire UN System, the work of civil society and private sector partners, and of course, the public at large. Open, inclusive, and transparent consultations are therefore imperative to ensure a thorough review and an outcome built on consensus and dialogue.
Following the adoption of resolution 76/6 with the support of the full membership, I have decided to convene a series of thematic consultations on implementation of ‘Our Common Agenda’.
I thank the Secretary-General, Member States, and the United Nations System for the support provided to my Office in preparation for the consultations.
I also express my appreciation to the Permanent Missions of Belgium, Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Slovenia, and Tanzania, for overseeing each of the thematic consultations in their capacity as Vice-Presidents.
Excellencies,
Beginning with today’s session, the five thematic consultations are intended to give all delegates and participants the opportunity to contribute to the discussion around recommendations included in the OCA report.
In terms of format, I have put in place an inclusive process, wherein each round of consultations will include a plenary segment, with a briefing by the Secretary-General on the cluster of proposals and statements from Member States and observers, and two moderated panel discussions – one with senior officials from the United Nations system and one with relevant partners, including the private sector, youth, academia, and civil society representatives.
As has been provided by resolution 76/6, to ensure broad and inclusive consultations, relevant partners have been invited to intervene in the second panel discussion of the second day, with the invaluable support of UN DESA and the Department for Global Communications.
At the closing segment of each thematic consultation USG for Policy, Volker Turk, will provide additional remarks on behalf of the Secretariat to the issues raised during the cluster.
Following the completion of all five rounds, the Vice-Presidents will prepare a summary of the relevant thematic consultations, broadly capturing the comments and suggestions made by Member States on the various proposals. A consolidated summary of all five consultations will be circulated among Member States.
Excellencies,
I promised a Presidency of Hope focused on solutions and concrete action, one that looks to deliver for people, for planet, and for prosperity.
While the United Nations has a robust, wide-ranging programme of work, my presidency has placed particular emphasis on priority themes or, as I call them, “rays of hope”, including recovering from COVID-19, a sustainable recovery, respecting the rights of all, protecting the planet, and revitalizing the UN.
This consultative process towards implementation of ‘Our Common Agenda’ is key to delivering on each of those priorities as well.
Excellencies, ours is a world in need of hope. Hope that can only be inspired by unity, solidarity, and collective action.
Our 8 billion constituents demand to see the evidence that we hear their cries, that we understand their pain, that we share their grief, and that we are resolved to deliver.
Put simply: the United Nations must step up; we must become more responsive and more effective for the people we serve.
Excellencies,
Recall that the General Assembly, through its UN75 Declaration adopted by the Heads of State and Government, called for a report with ‘recommendations to advance our common agenda and to respond to current and future challenges’.
The Secretary-General’s ‘Our Common Agenda’ report is a direct response to the request made by our Heads of State and Government on how to enable the United Nations to steer the international community through challenging waters.
In this context, as an Islander, I would like to tell you that every day when the fisherfolk are out in the sea their goal is to catch fish and not to get their hooks entangled in the reef.
Despite differing views and opinions on some proposals contained in the report, the adoption of the resolution on 15 November, by consensus, demonstrated a willingness on part of the membership to work together on Secretary-General’s proposals.
Our attempt through these consultations is to find a way forward on the various proposals in the Report. Even where we have our differences, our attempt should be do find the right mechanisms to ensure that we arrive at common understandings.
End of the day, it is Our Common Agenda and we are but one family. We might have our differences, but let’s not get entangled. Like the fisherfolk, let’s fill our boats with fish, the other option is to cut the hook and return to the shore empty handed.
Let us deliver on what our leaders have committed us to and enter these deliberations in good faith, with full transparency, mutual trust and respect, and with the common goal of enhancing our work and bettering the world around us.
I thank you once again for joining today’s initial consultation, which will focus on ‘Accelerating and scaling up the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no-one behind’.
I wish you all the best in the discussions and I look forward to hearing your proposals.
I thank you.
