Deputy Secretary-General Calls for Deeper Synergies during ‘Decade of Action’ in Joint Briefing to General Assembly, Economic and Social Council
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at a joint briefing by the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council, in New York today:
It is deeply encouraging to see two of the United Nations Charter bodies collaborating on so many critical issues this year, as we mark the Organization’s seventy-fifth anniversary.
I am very grateful to President [Tijjani Muhammad-] Bande and President [Mona] Juul for inviting me to join in today’s meeting. I commend the work that is being undertaken under your leadership — whether on education, poverty, oceans or biodiversity in the General Assembly, or on the contribution of the United Nations system and the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda [for Sustainable Development] in the Economic and Social Council.
And I commend, in particular, the joint work you are undertaking on youth, financing and support for least developed countries. Each of these issues and the emphasis you are placing on them speak to the core of the 2030 Agenda and the principle of leaving no one behind.
As we embark on a Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council have critical roles to play in translating the current buy-in for the [Goals] into more ambitious implementation and major progress in people’s lives by 2030. In this regard, allow me to highlight three specific areas where further collaboration between the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council in 2020 can make a strong contribution.
The first opportunity relates to the operational activities of the United Nations system. As you all know, 2020 is a quadrennial comprehensive policy review year. At the Economic and Social Council’s operational activities segment in May, we will have an opportunity to consolidate the Council’s role as the main accountability platform for the new Resident Coordinator system and the wider United Nations development system. We look forward to a dynamic, interactive operational activities segment during which Member States can assess how the United Nations development system reforms are unfolding on the ground — how we are moving, together, to move from resolutions to transformative results.
And — as the Economic and Social Council deals with the remaining business of the current quadrennial comprehensive policy review — we look forward to a decision by Member States on the proposals the Secretary-General will be putting forward to strengthen the United Nations regional support and our multi-country offices.
And in the fall, as the Economic and Social Council passes the baton to the General Assembly, we will see the advent of a new quadrennial comprehensive policy review. The 2012 Review was a milestone resolution, with its focus on establishing a robust monitoring framework. The 2016 Review was a landmark resolution which laid the foundation for the most ambitious reform in the history of the United Nations development system. And I am certain that the next Review will also be the first of its kind — as we move from making the system fit-for-purpose to accelerating action towards 2030.
We look forward to a quadrennial comprehensive policy review that reflects the new era of the United Nations development system — a forward-leaning tool that takes the system’s collective accountability for results to the next level.
A second opportunity for collaboration and impact is the high-level political forum on sustainable development. The forum has shown immense value as the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and I am always encouraged by the vibrancy of the different constituencies that it brings together. I am sure that the 2020 forum will be no different. The forum also provides an opportunity to pivot our focus from the nuts and bolts of the early institutional responses to the Sustainable Development Goals to the lessons learned and support needed to bring that response to another level.
In addition, the General Assembly’s review of the Economic and Social Council and the high-level political forum can further enhance the effectiveness of the entire Council cycle, creating space and bringing rigour for a new generation of voluntary national reviews; bringing to life the integrated nature of the Goals; and ensuring better synergy between the forum and the rest of the Economic and Social Council cycle, including the forum on financing for development. The Sustainable Development Goals Action Forum that the Secretary-General will convene in September will allow us to build on the in-depth findings of the high-level political forum and to ensure the Goals stay at the very top of the political agenda.
A third area I would like to highlight is the question of synergy across the work of both organs. Both the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and Council’s functional commissions, have made incredibly strong contributions to the global development agenda since this Organization was established. Both organs have been instrumental in bringing the 2030 Agenda into being, and to ensuring that the perspective of countries in special situations and the world’s most vulnerable people are brought to the fore of the international affairs.
Over the past four years, we have seen many efforts to make the oversight functions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on issues pertaining to the 2030 Agenda fit-for-purpose. But it is fair to say that those efforts have not yet borne fruit. It is incumbent on all of us to create the space to allow each organ to evolve to deliver its full and unique potential.
The ongoing meetings of the Second and Third Committees, coupled with the General Assembly’s review of the Economic and Social Council and the Assembly alignment process, provide us with a unique opportunity to maximize the impact and added value of both the Assembly and the Council on development matters. Working together, in line with the prerogatives established by the United Nations Charter, both organs can take bold steps to truly reposition sustainable development at the heart of the Organization. Because — as the Secretary-General has said time and time again — the 2030 Agenda is humanity’s best chance for a future of peace, dignity and prosperity for all.
As we mark the United Nations seventy-fifth anniversary, let us work together to make this a decisive year. Let me conclude by reiterating the encouragement that is gained from your joint efforts as the Presidents of these two Charter bodies. On all of these issues, we in the Secretariat – in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management and across the United Nations development system — are here to support you. And we look forward to working closely with you all as we make 2020 a year of urgency, and the 2020s a decade of action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.