Statement on Behalf of the Group of 77 and China by H.E. Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations, Chair of the Group of 77 China, at the Joint Meeting of the Ffd and the Post-2015 Development Agenda
New York, 21 April 2015Co-Facilitators,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
This joint meeting of the intergovernmental negotiations on the preparatory process of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the Post-2015 Development Agenda has come at a critical juncture to enable Member States to look at possible linkages and synergies of the FfD process and that of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This is timely indeed as it would be addressed in the context of the recently held second drafting session of the FfD process which completed its work last week Friday and the March intergovernmental negotiations session of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
The group would like to reaffirm the holistic scope of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development. In this regard, the Group’s position is to maintain the balance of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration as reflected in their structures and should be the basis for the development of the Addis Ababa Outcome Document.
The Group of 77 and China would like to reiterate the following points which were the basis for its February Position Paper on this matter:
Firstly, the UN Member States have agreed that the Open Working Group-SDG report would be the “main basis” of the Post-2015 Development Agenda intergovernmental negotiations as it integrates the Means of Implementation (MOI) both as a stand-alone goal and also within goals. In this regard, the Group of 77 and China underlines the need for stronger synergies between the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. We note with appreciation that the programme for this week includes the whole day dedicated to discuss the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, which is part of the mandate of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The Group looks forward to a constructive deliberation on specific aspects related to the establishment of a Technology Facilitation Mechanism for the implementation of the SDGs.
Secondly, while the focus of the FfD conference should primarily be on its core mandate and scope, as contained in the General Assembly Resolution 68/204, it should consider specific MOI for SDGs, taking into account and building on the MOI goal and targets as contained in the report of the Open Working Group on the SDGs and without prejudging or precluding discussions on the MOI under the Post-2015 Development Agenda track.
Thirdly, it is the Group's view that the FfD process should complement and support the elaboration of the Post-2015 agenda. As such, it should provide a set of tools that will support the implementation of the Post-2015 development agenda. However, FfD is a separate process and its scope goes beyond merely financing the SDGs. In a similar manner, the Post-2015 Development Agenda will draw from the means of implementation contemplated in the FfD outcome in light of its adequacy and relevance towards the implementation of its goals and targets, but this will not exhaust its means of implementation, which go beyond those elaborated by the FfD outcome document.
Fourthly, the Group of 77 and China also calls upon developed countries to agree and commit to a new phase of international cooperation through a strengthened and scaled-up global partnership for development, which should be the centerpiece and anchor for both completing the unfinished business of the MDGs and implementing the Post-2015 Development Agenda, taking into account the lessons learnt from the gaps in the implementation of MDG8. The international community should provide enhanced and adequate means of implementation to developing countries, including through quantitative time-bound financing targets besides those established for ODA, debt relief and debt restructuring, trade, technology transfer and greater participation of developing countries in global economic governance.
Fifthly, the Group acknowledges the discussion of financing for climate change in the FfD. The FfD process must recognize UNFCCC as the main multilateral platform for discussions on climate finance. Climate finance must not be double counted as ODA and therefore must be considered as separate from and additional to ODA.
Finally, allow me to add that there is an urgent need to achieve an appropriate balance between the roles and the responsibilities of the public and private sectors, respectively, in the financing for development in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. The Group is concerned that efforts to skew the balance heavily in favour of the role of the private sector in supporting development are unacceptable, as this effectively amounts to trying to privatize delivery on the global development agenda. In the context of a much-needed strengthened and scaled up global partnership for development, the private sector has a complementary role to play in supporting the implementation of the development agenda.
The Group of 77 and China acknowledges the distinct nature of the two tracks and reiterates its firm view regarding the need for an intergovernmental follow up for the FfD process under the auspices of General Assembly. The Group recalls the central role of the High Level Political Forum in the follow up and review of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, including commitments emanating from the Conference on Financing for Development which are relevant as complementary means of implementation for the SDGs. In this regard, the Group expresses its firm support to a follow up and review of the Post-2015 Development Agenda that encompass all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in a balanced and integrated manner, while giving priority for the implementation of Goal 17 and the MOI, specific targets under the other SDGs, as their cross-cutting nature is critical to the implementation of the entire framework of goals.
I thank you.