Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Chair.
I am pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of Canada, New Zealand and my own country, Australia.
We wish to make four points on agenda items 15 and 16.
First, it has been not much more than one year since the adoption of the Seville Commitment.
This was a hard-won outcome at a challenging time – and CANZ wants to see it remain an important catalyst for advancing action across the financing for development agenda – and for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
We want to focus on operationalising this landmark agreement rather than relitigating and renegotiating the same issues through resolutions under Items 15 and 16.
We must give the Seville Commitment the space and the chance to succeed and to drive the direction of development finance for the decade, as envisaged.
If we can adequately focus on protecting what was agreed in Seville – the international community will be better placed to make progress on closing the SDG financing gap.
Secondly, as we heard from our keynote speaker on Monday – diversifying the sources of financing in support of sustainable development is critical.
Resolutions under Items 15 and 16 provide an opportunity to advance this discussion – by focusing on issues like trade, international financial systems and combatting illicit financial flows.
This means building strong national and international institutions, optimising external and domestic financing flows and fiscal frameworks, combatting illicit financial flows through targeted action and fostering development-oriented investment partnerships with ample consideration for localized approaches.
We must also ensure ODA and development finance is well-targeted to those most in need.
Third, impact should be at the center of everything we do here and agree upon.
CANZ wants to see inclusion remain a focus of discussions under these items.
If our societies are to prosper and economic and development gains are to be sustainable, we must advance equality, including gender equality.
We can also help ensure the impact of our work by focusing on the specific value add the Second Committee can contribute – and ensuring our outcomes are meaningful and relevant to our communities.
Creating new processes, expanding institutional roles or convening new dialogues where forums already exist risks diluting our efforts, fragmenting resources, attention and our impact – and ultimately undermining progress.
And finally, CANZ wants to see Member States implement the commitments of resolution 80/251 and Second Committee revitalisation in the resolutions under these items.
That means streamlining texts, greater discipline, clarity and brevity in creating mandates, supported by concept notes, and introducing mandate review clauses and sunset and retirement clauses.
This is not simply a box ticking exercise – concept notes for new mandates, as outlined and agreed by Member States in 80/251, should provide the rationale, objectives and expected impact of a new mandate, how the new mandate fits within the existing mandate landscape, indicative financial implications, the technical secretariat focal point and a UN system implementation lead as well as the mandate implementation timelines.
Similarly, we are not calling for review and retirement clauses for the sake of it.
Review clauses mean that work to progress a mandate is evaluated – supporting better accountability for the promises we make.
We have collectively committed to these actions, and we need to deliver if we are to make Second Committee – and these outcomes – meaningful and impactful.
Thank you.