Sixty-fifth GA high-level meeting on Millennium Development Goals/PA Minister’s statement – GA press release (excerpts)

Plenary

8^th & 9^th Meetings (AM & PM)

CONFIDENT THAT DESPITE UNEVEN PROGRESS, SETBACKS, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

CAN STILL BE ACHIEVED BY 2015, LEADERS ADOPT 'ACTION AGENDA' ON WAY FORWARD

As General Assembly High-level Review of Progress to Meet Goals

Concludes, Secretary-General Pledges to ‘Promote Accountability on All Sides’

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Background

The General Assembly met today to continue and conclude its high-level plenary meeting on the Millennium Development Goals.

Statements

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ALI JARBAWI, Minister of Planning and Administrative Development of the Palestinian National Authority, recalled world leaders’ acknowledgement, via the Millennium Declaration, of their collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level.  As it strove for independence, Palestine was heartened by world leaders’ commitment to the right to self-determination.  Palestine was committed to achieving the Millennium Goals, despite the illegal, prolonged military occupation by Israel.  However, the occupation was a major obstacle in attaining the Millennium Goals, and must end.

Nevertheless, he said, universal primary education and gender equality in education had been achieved, and great strides were being made to improve maternal health care.  Such achievements had been made despite the fact that Palestinian pregnant women and children were still held up routinely at Israeli military checkpoints while travelling to school and health-care facilities.  While improvements in basic services had been attained, essential investments in public infrastructure were often obstructed or indefinitely delayed by complex restrictions imposed by the occupation.  Israel and its settlers were also systematically overexploiting Palestine’s natural resources.  It was Palestine’s firm belief that if the occupation ended and the government could be consolidated into a sovereign and independent State, then it could not only meet but, in fact, exceed most of the Millennium Development Goals before 2015.

In those geographical areas where the Palestinian Authority had access – nearly 40 per cent of the West Bank – performance in achieving the Millennium Goals was good, he said.  Conversely, the situation in areas obstructed by Israeli military forces was very different.  Schools in East Jerusalem were in a state of disrepair and hospitals in the area faced perennial shortages in essential medicines and equipment.  There were also struggles to provide the most basic services to communities isolated by the “expansionist annexation wall”.  Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund had reported that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip currently stood at 37 per cent – now the highest in the world.

“If the current status quo is allowed to continue, the socio-economic inequalities that exist between Gaza and the West Bank will widen to unprecedented proportions with tragic consequences,” he stressed.  The blockade on the Gaza Strip must be completely lifted.  If not, Palestine’s path to attaining the Millennium Goals could be further obstructed or reversed.  Concluding, he said Palestine was committed to ensuring equal rights and opportunities for its families.  It would strive to do so in line with international law and the spirit of the Millennium Declaration.

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For information media • not an official record