Your Excellency, Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, President of theEconomic and Social Council,Excellencies,Distinguished Delegates,Ladies and Gentlemen,
The first week of the high-level political forum on sustainable development is drawing to a close.
At the opening of the Forum on Monday, I said I was proud to have been part of building this critical platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
Now, I am more than ever convinced, that the HLPF is the right platform on the right track.
The HLPF has grown and is getting stronger.
Let me begin with some HLPF numbers for this session that are being daily updated on the website:
• There are 44 Voluntary National Reviews;• 65 ministers, state secretaries and vice-ministers have announced their participation and the number is growing;• 2,458 stakeholders are registered for the HLPF, and you can certainly feel their dynamic energy in this room;• There are 147 side events confirmed, thanks to support from conference management; and• There are 3 special events: SDG Business Forum; Partnership Exchange and SDG Learning Centre, with thousands of participants confirmed for these special events.
But of course, the numbers do not give the whole picture.
We have also benefited from enriching and often inspiring discussions.I believe that a measure of success of these first five days should be how much value the HLPF has added to follow-up and review by sharing lessons, analyzing gaps, and by recommending policy options.
In that regard, I think the HLPF this week has accomplished its mission.
Excellencies,
The HLPF has undoubtedly shown that it is the global central platform for review and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, building on various work streams at national and regional levels.
The HLPF is a forum led by Member States, but with passionate and enthusiastic participation by multi-stakeholders, and with broad substantive support by the UN family.
Importantly, the HLPF has broadened the scope of the review by providing space for various communities, going beyond sectoral boundaries.
The HLPF now is about coherence, inter-linkages and transformative actions.
For example, on ending poverty, there are clear messages from the HLPF:
• While growth is fundamental to poverty alleviation, we cannot wait for growth alone to tackle poverty;• We need to take targeted action and transform poverty reduction initiatives into drivers for long-term growth and job creation; and• We need to tackle multi-dimensions of poverty, by providing access to basic services, including education, and by building institutions.
We have heard that, unless we have a complete picture on what is needed for SDG implementation – including science- and evidence- based policies, inter-linkages with other SDGs, and looking at trade-offs – implementation cannot be successful.
Science-policy interface needs to be further strengthened. HLPF is the right platform where the scientific community can come together with policy makers and discuss collaboration and mutual support.
There are more detailed messages and recommendations but I will leave it to the Bureau to report to the Ministerial Segment this coming Monday.
But I do want to address the importance of data.
What is measured is not forgotten. We must continue to build capacity and collect reliable data, but also use it in the best possible way for implementation.
Building capacity for data collection and use in developing countries, especially countries in special situations, is one of our priorities.Multi-stakeholder engagement continues to broaden. This year it provided many concrete experiences about how the SDGs are being implemented.
I also see a much better presence of the business sector, which is very encouraging.
Distinguished Delegates,
I look forward to the Ministerial Segment of the HLPF, and commend the 44 countries that will present their follow-up and review.
I have looked at their reports and they reflect an enormous amount of work that has gone into the preparatory process.
I wish to praise them for showing determination and political will at the HLPF ministerial level, and share lessons learned and experiences with other countries and stakeholders.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and see you back on Monday.
Thank you.
The first week of the high-level political forum on sustainable development is drawing to a close.
At the opening of the Forum on Monday, I said I was proud to have been part of building this critical platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
Now, I am more than ever convinced, that the HLPF is the right platform on the right track.
The HLPF has grown and is getting stronger.
Let me begin with some HLPF numbers for this session that are being daily updated on the website:
• There are 44 Voluntary National Reviews;• 65 ministers, state secretaries and vice-ministers have announced their participation and the number is growing;• 2,458 stakeholders are registered for the HLPF, and you can certainly feel their dynamic energy in this room;• There are 147 side events confirmed, thanks to support from conference management; and• There are 3 special events: SDG Business Forum; Partnership Exchange and SDG Learning Centre, with thousands of participants confirmed for these special events.
But of course, the numbers do not give the whole picture.
We have also benefited from enriching and often inspiring discussions.I believe that a measure of success of these first five days should be how much value the HLPF has added to follow-up and review by sharing lessons, analyzing gaps, and by recommending policy options.
In that regard, I think the HLPF this week has accomplished its mission.
Excellencies,
The HLPF has undoubtedly shown that it is the global central platform for review and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, building on various work streams at national and regional levels.
The HLPF is a forum led by Member States, but with passionate and enthusiastic participation by multi-stakeholders, and with broad substantive support by the UN family.
Importantly, the HLPF has broadened the scope of the review by providing space for various communities, going beyond sectoral boundaries.
The HLPF now is about coherence, inter-linkages and transformative actions.
For example, on ending poverty, there are clear messages from the HLPF:
• While growth is fundamental to poverty alleviation, we cannot wait for growth alone to tackle poverty;• We need to take targeted action and transform poverty reduction initiatives into drivers for long-term growth and job creation; and• We need to tackle multi-dimensions of poverty, by providing access to basic services, including education, and by building institutions.
We have heard that, unless we have a complete picture on what is needed for SDG implementation – including science- and evidence- based policies, inter-linkages with other SDGs, and looking at trade-offs – implementation cannot be successful.
Science-policy interface needs to be further strengthened. HLPF is the right platform where the scientific community can come together with policy makers and discuss collaboration and mutual support.
There are more detailed messages and recommendations but I will leave it to the Bureau to report to the Ministerial Segment this coming Monday.
But I do want to address the importance of data.
What is measured is not forgotten. We must continue to build capacity and collect reliable data, but also use it in the best possible way for implementation.
Building capacity for data collection and use in developing countries, especially countries in special situations, is one of our priorities.Multi-stakeholder engagement continues to broaden. This year it provided many concrete experiences about how the SDGs are being implemented.
I also see a much better presence of the business sector, which is very encouraging.
Distinguished Delegates,
I look forward to the Ministerial Segment of the HLPF, and commend the 44 countries that will present their follow-up and review.
I have looked at their reports and they reflect an enormous amount of work that has gone into the preparatory process.
I wish to praise them for showing determination and political will at the HLPF ministerial level, and share lessons learned and experiences with other countries and stakeholders.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and see you back on Monday.
Thank you.
File date:
Friday, July 14, 2017