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27 June 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n Excellencies,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I would like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude to the Portuguese, Dominican Republic, and Mozambique governments for having kindly extended an invitation for me to speak with you all today.<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My Presidency is premised on maintaining hope while simultaneously responding to our planet\u2019s increasingly urgent needs.<\/p>\n It is therefore crucial that we comprehensively tend to the worrying health of the ocean and that, in this process, we implement SDG14.<\/p>\n However, it is with deep concern that I must state that we are far behind achieving our anticipated target for this Goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The ocean covers 70% of the Earth\u2019s surface and is home to 80% of all life in the world. It is our planet\u2019s largest biosphere, providing livelihoods to over 3 billion people.<\/p>\n Marine Protected Areas are a positive initiative to alleviate the pressures currently endured by marine environments, including those resulting from climate change.<\/p>\n I unfortunately understand that, to date, only 8% of coastal and marine areas are protected, when our intention was to have achieved 10% of marine coverage globally by 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Scientific evidence indicates that protecting 30% of the global ocean is key to reversing adverse ecological impacts, preserving fish populations and marine ecosystems, increasing resilience to climate change, and sustaining the long-term health of our oceans.<\/p>\n This requires ambitious policy shifts regarding ocean action such as:<\/p>\n – implementing critical nature-based solutions that nurture rather than exploit;<\/p>\n – drafting strong international treaties to guarantee better ocean governance;<\/p>\n – and promoting an accountable and responsible blue economy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My dear friends,<\/p>\n The success of Marine Protected Areas in delivering conservation benefits, however depends on effective management.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And that calls for the effective monitoring, collecting and analyzing of data. This is crucial to understanding changes in ocean conditions and biodiversity, and further improving the management of marine protected areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Stakeholders can then use the information gathered by publishing fishing activity records, thereby improving transparency, accountability and overall management and governance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Going forward, we also need to harness the advantages of machine learning and near-real-time, open-source, dynamic and interactive data to evaluate ocean conditions, marine biology, and human activity, such as fishing.<\/p>\n My dear friends,<\/p>\n We can be proud of our accomplishments thus far and see them as beacons of hope, but we must also be mindful that there remains nonetheless a long way to go.<\/p>\n Today is an opportune time to learn about each other\u2019s achievements in our pursuit to heal our oceans and achieve our 14th<\/sup><\/span> SDG.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I hope that we can build on today\u2019s discussion to move forward in our engagements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I thank you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lisbon, Portugal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Excellencies, colleagues,<\/p> I welcome you all to our second meeting and our first interaction following the resumed part of the session.<\/p> Before I begin, I would like to recognize the loss of our dear friend and esteemed colleague, Ms. Gail Farngalo.<\/p> A Liberian national, Gail was my Team Leader for Human Rights and was active on gender during both the 75th<\/sup> and 76th<\/sup> sessions. She leaves behind a legacy of achievements and a groundswell of respect and affection from across the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and diplomatic communities. Her presence is certainly felt here today.<\/p> Colleagues,<\/p> When I took on this Presidency of Hope, I pledged to make gender equality a priority area for the 76th<\/sup> session. I continue to look to the board for its wisdom and expertise, as I endeavour to fulfil that pledge.<\/p> In this regard, I have already benefited from the board\u2019s advice, from when we met on October 28th<\/sup> last year.<\/p> Acting on that advice, I committed to ensuring that all my five rays of hope, and all my major initiatives, are approached with a gender lens.<\/p> I made sure that the composition of my office is gender-balanced.<\/p> I have committed to participating only in panels that have equal gender representation.<\/p> Throughout my official interactions and travels, I have endeavoured to meet with women, including heads of states and governments, scientists, civil society representatives, and youth.<\/p> And I am proud to inform you that five young women have been recruited into the Fellowship for HOPE<\/em> that my office recently launched. The Fellowship as you are well aware is targeted at benefiting young diplomats from underrepresented countries, pursuing careers in diplomacy or public service.<\/p> Colleagues,<\/p> While recognizing that we have a long way to go in the battle for gender-equality, I am proud of what my team has been able to accomplish within the past few months.<\/p> Our work continues.<\/p> We will continue to raise our voices on issues disproportionately impacting women, such as domestic violence and work place harassment. We will continue to push the importance of gender-equal work spaces.<\/p> And we will continue to find new paths to empower young women with ambitious professional aspirations.<\/p> Now is not the time to rest on our laurels.<\/p> With the board\u2019s guidance and support, we must use the many opportunities over the coming months to further empower women and girls, and dismantle discriminatory practices against them.<\/p> There are several upcoming events that will provide us such opportunities. I look forward to the board\u2019s suggestions on how we can best utilize them.<\/p> As an example, the International Day of Women and Girls in science is fast approaching. We must recognize that women\u2019s contributions in science and technology have helped us cure diseases; discover new horizons in space; and develop technologies that have vastly improved our quality of life.<\/p> As we celebrate their achievements, we must also open pathways for young girls who aspire to follow in the footsteps of pioneers in science and technology.<\/p> Colleagues,<\/p> Let us also reflect that the theme chosen by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women for this year is on \u201cachieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes\u201d.<\/p> As we strive to meet our obligations to the planet, let us recognize the important work done by women and girls at the forefront of the climate crisis, and whose humanitarian work in disaster-stricken areas has helped save lives and rebuild communities. We owe it to them to not only celebrate their work but to support them.<\/p> Colleagues,<\/p> Our programme of work for the months ahead has been circulated to members prior to the meeting, for consideration and feedback. Please note that the events we have planned are not exhaustive. I welcome further suggestions from the board on the content and format of future events and activities.<\/p> Colleagues,<\/p> We have made much progress within a short while. And with the board\u2019s support and guidance, I am sure that we can keep up this strong momentum.<\/p> I look forward to working alongside all of you to achieve our vision of a gender-equal world.<\/p> Thank you.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[550,556,553],"committee-meeting":[],"class_list":["post-268367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speeches","tag-ga","tag-pga","tag-shahid","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n