Statements and Speeches
Statement on Behalf of The Group of 77 and China by a Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations, on the Occasion of the Seventh Session of the Post-2015 Development Agenda - Means of Implementation
New York, 29 July 2015
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
Co-Facilitators,
The Group of 77 and China has consistently stressed the importance of Means of Implementation to the post-2015 development agenda.
While we believe that the current draft of the outcome document satisfactorily addresses the Means of Implementation, the Group believes that further improvement is required.
Co-facilitators,
The G77 and China stresses that the Means of Implementation for the post-2015 development agenda cannot be a substitute for, nor be replaced by, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Rather, the FfD outcome from Addis Ababa was the product of an independent process and should therefore be considered as supporting and complementary to the Global Partnership and the Means of Implementation for the post-2015 development agenda. The Means of Implementation contained in each goal and in Goal 17 are a fundamental component of the post-2015 development agenda in their own right and "an integral part of the "agenda" that we are currently negotiating.
The FfD was not a subsidiary process to the post-2015 development agenda, and its unique and independent nature must be fully respected. The outcome document of the Addis Ababa Conference therefore should and must not be annexed to the Summit outcome. It has appropriately been welcomed in our text, which also references the General Assembly resolution, which endorsed it, and we have also underlined the important role that it will play in supporting the implementation of the agenda. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda complements and supports the Global Partnership for Development, of which it will also be a part.
To be frank, we also see this as a sterile debate because only two weeks ago, in the FfD Outcome, it was agreed on defining the relationship as follows. Paragraph 19 of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda clearly states in para 19:
The post-2015 development agenda, including the sustainable development goals, can be met within the framework of a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development, supported by the concrete policies and actions as outlined in the present Action Agenda.
Co-facilitators,
The Group of 77 and China would also like to add the following additional points:
- The SDGs are indivisible, including its means of implementation. It has been a consistent Group position that all targets, including the means of implementation, should be treated in the same manner regarding their implementation and their follow up and review. We thus consider it essential to keep the MoI specific targets alongside all the other goals and targets in Chapter 2, separating the two Chapters would not only be a revision of the OWG-SDG report, but would unnecessary divorce text that not only belongs together, but which should be read together.
The Group of 77 and China does not support proposals aimed at reopening the SDGs, reducing their level of ambition or weakening their integrated nature, which includes Goal-specific MOIs and Goal 17.
- As we have stated previously, it would be important to link the ambitious Agenda contained in Chapter 2 to what is continued in Chapter 3. It is thus proposed that language should be added in the first paragraph of the third Chapter, which speaks to the commitment of implementing the Agenda that is being adopted.
In this regard, the Group of 77 and China proposes the addition of the following paragraph, as paragraph 38pre:
"Successful implementation of the sustainable development goals and targets require an ambitious set of means of implementation and a revitalised Global Partnership for Development. We therefore, reaffirm our strong commitment to the full implementation of this Agenda, through the delivery of the means of implementation as contained in each individual goal and in Goal 17 of the SDGs".
- Regarding paragraph 64, the Group of 77 and China calls for member states to honour agreements reached within the FfD negotiations regarding the Technology Facilitation Mechanism. In this regard, we believe that we should capitalize on the goodwill and compromise reached in this track, and we believe that the outcome document should reflect the agreed language in paragraph 123 of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in its entirety, which we believe must be respected.
The launching of the TFM should be undertaken at the Summit where our leaders will be adopting the post-2015 development agenda.
I thank you for your kind attention.