Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States by H.E. Ms. Anna Karin Eneström, Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN, at the ECOSOC Partnership Forum, New York, 31 January 2023.
Madam President, distinguished colleagues, I deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States as Sweden holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union during this semester.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the potential candidate country Georgia align themselves with this statement.
We’re halfway to 2030 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being further hindered by the prolonging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the triple planetary crisis, and the global impacts of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine. More than ever we need to accelerate our efforts to achieve what we have set out to do. Our top priority is to strengthen resilience against future shocks and to ensure a sustainable, equitable and inclusive recovery.
Let me start by emphasising that the EU and its Member States firmly support strengthened participation by all stakeholders, notably civil society, women groups and human rights representatives, youth, the private sector and academia in all spheres of ECOSOC’s work. We commend the Partnership Forum for allowing just that.
The state of the world today clearly highlights the need for a stronger multilateral system, capable of tackling global issues in an effective and coordinated way. At this crucial time more than ever, the 2030 Agenda is our collective roadmap to achieve a sustainable, inclusive, resilient and just global recovery that enables achievement of the SDGs.
It is vital that we heed the call of the Secretary General, as pronounced in his Our Common Agenda report. A more effective and networked form of multilateralism is required, and it is up to us Member States to deliver.
In order to fulfil our collective pledge to “leave no one behind”, the multilateral system needs to first and foremost address the needs of those that are lagging behind as regards the SDGs and who have suffered and continue to suffer disproportionally from the multiple ongoing and interlinked crises. The Doha programme of action, and the upcoming LDC5 conference in Doha, will be a milestone, enacting the international community’s engagement to reach the furthest behind first.
The importance of the UN Water Conference can be summarised in a few figures. 2 billion people still lack access to clean water, 2.3 billion people live without basic handwashing facilities. The Water Conference is a timely and welcomed contribution in addressing the challenges of SDG6, which is shockingly off-track and under-financed.
In our race to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the question of sustainable financing should remain a focus of our attention, in the framework set by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and its follow-up processes, notably the Financing for Development Forum.
We recall that ODA, remains crucial for financing sustainable development, particularly in the most vulnerable countries. Therefor the need to speed up the financing for the SDGs is urgent and the mobilization of financial resources must thus come from all sectors of society. An innovative and adaptive development aid architecture is needed to facilitate and catalyse investments from the private sector that potentially, because of enormous resources, can play a very important role.
This year, we are looking forward to the halftime review of the implementation of the SDGs’ and the upcoming SDG Summit as well as the Financing for Development Forum and High Level Political Forum under the auspices of the ECOSOC. It will allow us to take stock of the progress made in achieving a sustainable recovery, and to discuss the road still ahead for the realization of all the SDGs, in particular SDG 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17.
In the context of the upcoming HLPF, the EU as a whole is pleased to, for the first time, present a voluntary review. Nine EU Member States will also present Voluntary National Reviews of their own. This collective effort shows our continued commitment to the full realization of the 2030 Agenda.
In closing, we would like to stress that ECOSOC plays a key part in facilitating coordinated action by all stakeholders and we strongly support its alignment with the 2030 Agenda.
Thank you.