Madam Chair,
Allow me to extend my congratulations to you, and the members of the Bureau, on your election, and assure you of DESA’s full support for your work.
Excellencies,Distinguished Delegates,Ladies and gentlemen,
The collective expertise of this Committee will be key to realize the shared, sustainable prosperity and peace that we hope to attain by 2030. This committee deals with key issues at the foundation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Inclusive, rights-based development forms the core of your work.
Today you begin discussion of the social development items on your agenda. You will review the broad spectrum of social progress and the follow-up and review of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. Through your work, you can provide critical guidance for promoting social justice and ensuring the development of effective social policies that support the realization of rights by all.
Distinguished delegates,
In these early stages of SDG implementation, several important lessons have already emerged. I will mention just a few.
The SDGs must be implemented in their entirety. And this requires transformative leadership and national ownership of the 2030 Agenda.
Delivering on the new Agenda requires the strengthening of institutions. It requires making them more transparent and inclusive.
The Agenda’s success also depends on our ability to foster policy coherence and integration. Our ability to move away from a silo mentality. So, we need to create broad policy coalitions and raise the level of global engagement and partnership to new heights.
Progress over the next fourteen years should also build on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and the foundation we have laid in this first year of SDG implementation.
Indeed, the past two decades have witnessed significant progress in the wellbeing of the human family.
Between 1990 and 2012, more than one billion people escaped extreme poverty. There have also been significant reductions in hunger and malnutrition.
Countries have scaled-up the provision of essential health services, contributing to significant reductions in child and maternal mortality.
The number of children enrolled in school is at historic highs and countries continue to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
But these gains have been uneven and fragile within and among countries.
The extreme poverty remains stubbornly high in sub-Saharan region and other parts of Africa and Asia as well. Developed countries have also seen an increase in inequalities and underemployment, particularly in Europe. Families with children need help to reduce the intergenerational transmission of poverty. And socioeconomic insecurity continues to disproportionately affect women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons and indigenous peoples.
Excellencies,
We need to change the course of human development from the one characterized by exclusion, inequalities, conflict, and unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to the one that is more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.
Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable who might be left behind. In order to help them, a UN system wide action plan on indigenous peoples to achieve the ends of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was finalized in October last year.
Implementation is ongoing, and we count on the cooperation and support of this Committee in moving this process forward, in particular at the national level, where the needs are the greatest.
This year, we also commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Throughout your deliberations, as you reflect on accessibility and disability-inclusion both within and beyond the United Nations, you will have the opportunity to lead the way in showcasing how social, economic and infrastructural policies must move forward in a coherent and integrated nature to ensure that no one is left behind.
In affirming our commitment to sustainability and to the SDGs we recognize that strong economies are not enough.
We recognize that we cannot look at social policy as a set of measures only designed to correct market and institutional failures or to temporarily protect poor households from the many risks they face. We recognize that discrimination is not an option and that integrated approaches to development are essential.
This Committee, together with ECOSOC and its functional commissions and advisory bodies - particularly the Commission for Social Development and Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - can play a lead role in ensuring a people-centred approach.
The challenges are great but the opportunities are greater.
I thank you for your attention, and I wish you a very productive session.
Allow me to extend my congratulations to you, and the members of the Bureau, on your election, and assure you of DESA’s full support for your work.
Excellencies,Distinguished Delegates,Ladies and gentlemen,
The collective expertise of this Committee will be key to realize the shared, sustainable prosperity and peace that we hope to attain by 2030. This committee deals with key issues at the foundation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Inclusive, rights-based development forms the core of your work.
Today you begin discussion of the social development items on your agenda. You will review the broad spectrum of social progress and the follow-up and review of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. Through your work, you can provide critical guidance for promoting social justice and ensuring the development of effective social policies that support the realization of rights by all.
Distinguished delegates,
In these early stages of SDG implementation, several important lessons have already emerged. I will mention just a few.
The SDGs must be implemented in their entirety. And this requires transformative leadership and national ownership of the 2030 Agenda.
Delivering on the new Agenda requires the strengthening of institutions. It requires making them more transparent and inclusive.
The Agenda’s success also depends on our ability to foster policy coherence and integration. Our ability to move away from a silo mentality. So, we need to create broad policy coalitions and raise the level of global engagement and partnership to new heights.
Progress over the next fourteen years should also build on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and the foundation we have laid in this first year of SDG implementation.
Indeed, the past two decades have witnessed significant progress in the wellbeing of the human family.
Between 1990 and 2012, more than one billion people escaped extreme poverty. There have also been significant reductions in hunger and malnutrition.
Countries have scaled-up the provision of essential health services, contributing to significant reductions in child and maternal mortality.
The number of children enrolled in school is at historic highs and countries continue to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
But these gains have been uneven and fragile within and among countries.
The extreme poverty remains stubbornly high in sub-Saharan region and other parts of Africa and Asia as well. Developed countries have also seen an increase in inequalities and underemployment, particularly in Europe. Families with children need help to reduce the intergenerational transmission of poverty. And socioeconomic insecurity continues to disproportionately affect women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons and indigenous peoples.
Excellencies,
We need to change the course of human development from the one characterized by exclusion, inequalities, conflict, and unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to the one that is more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.
Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable who might be left behind. In order to help them, a UN system wide action plan on indigenous peoples to achieve the ends of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was finalized in October last year.
Implementation is ongoing, and we count on the cooperation and support of this Committee in moving this process forward, in particular at the national level, where the needs are the greatest.
This year, we also commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Throughout your deliberations, as you reflect on accessibility and disability-inclusion both within and beyond the United Nations, you will have the opportunity to lead the way in showcasing how social, economic and infrastructural policies must move forward in a coherent and integrated nature to ensure that no one is left behind.
In affirming our commitment to sustainability and to the SDGs we recognize that strong economies are not enough.
We recognize that we cannot look at social policy as a set of measures only designed to correct market and institutional failures or to temporarily protect poor households from the many risks they face. We recognize that discrimination is not an option and that integrated approaches to development are essential.
This Committee, together with ECOSOC and its functional commissions and advisory bodies - particularly the Commission for Social Development and Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - can play a lead role in ensuring a people-centred approach.
The challenges are great but the opportunities are greater.
I thank you for your attention, and I wish you a very productive session.
File date:
Tuesday, October 4, 2016