[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”-76px|auto||auto||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.19.3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
19 January 2023<\/b><\/p>\n
Dear President Stoeva,<\/p>\n
Excellencies, friends,<\/p>\n
I\u2019m glad to see the GA and the ECOSOC walking into this new year together.<\/p>\n
So far, my monthly coordination meetings with the President of ECOSOC have proven to be one of the most powerful tools to ensure the work \u2013 our work \u2013 is focused and coordinated.<\/p>\n
Dear colleagues,<\/p>\n
You know well the grim picture of the global landscape you have heard described on other occasions \u2013 and we discussed these issues, including last Tuesday, during the presentation of the priorities of the General Assembly.<\/p>\n
You know that we are in a watershed moment for diplomacy and in history. We can easily call it a new chapter of history.<\/p>\n
But these words are not weightless.<\/p>\n
We are at the apex of several complex, cascading and interlocking crises.<\/p>\n
How will we change this reality?<\/p>\n
As I see it, there is one solution within reach \u2013 and we call it transformation.<\/p>\n
It means major systemic changes. A complete overhaul\u00a0of the way<\/i>\u00a0we approach and do things in many ways.<\/p>\n
We are nearing the halfway point in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, only 7 years away from the deadlines we set for ourselves.<\/p>\n
And as you know, we are far off track in the achievement of those goals.<\/p>\n
But this year\u2019s schedule is packed with opportunities for action, too.<\/p>\n
The 77th<\/sup>\u00a0session will spend a significant part of its mandate preparing for the SDG Summit, and later on, the Summit of the Future in 2024.<\/p>\n These will be the two top events in the forthcoming two years.<\/p>\n These two sibling Summits are the main building blocks for game-changing initiatives.<\/p>\n My hope is to make the SDG Summit an immense accelerator of our actions for the implementation of the 17 Goals.<\/p>\n The questions to keep in mind between now and the High-Level Political Forum in July, and High-Level Week in September, are as follows:<\/p>\n In which ways can we change how we implement the SDGs by 2027, our next Summit review?<\/p>\n Which concrete steps can we take to make that transformation a reality?<\/p>\n To set us in good stead, the ECOSOC Coordination Segment in early February will be the occasion to define key policy recommendations to achieve the SDGs in times of challenges.<\/p>\n Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p>\n A pillar of my approach to crisis management is the involvement of science in the decision shaping processes of the General Assembly.<\/p>\n To this end, I will be holding scientific briefings, shortly after the coordination segment, on the 7th<\/sup>\u00a0of February.<\/p>\n Scientists from around the world will brief Member States on:<\/p>\n I strongly encourage you to heed these scientists\u2019 words and translate them into concrete action.<\/p>\n Science is neither a GA nor an ECOSOC exclusive issue \u2013 it transcends mandates across the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ system.<\/p>\n Let us therefore build a common knowledge base that reaches across sectors.<\/p>\n Similarly, we need science for finding a new mechanism to evaluate the implementation of sustainability transformation.<\/p>\n We have wonderful goals. We have wonderful agreements. We have wonderful types of cooperation. The weakest part of the implementation is the evaluation mechanism. Let\u2019s overhaul it. Let\u2019s renew it.<\/p>\n Of all the threats we currently face \u2013 climate, food, energy, debt, biodiversity loss \u2013 perhaps none comes close to the water crisis, which is already hitting us.<\/p>\n But water also a solution to many of our challenges.<\/p>\n Integrating our water and climate policies, and integrating them with other sectors, is key to protecting our societies from disasters.<\/p>\n In March, the GA will hold the first Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference since 1977. It should be the \u201cParis Moment\u201d of water management.<\/p>\n The aim is to move away from reactive water management to pre-emptive, science-driven and system-wide solutions to the water crisis.<\/p>\n I welcome the adoption of the Kunming Montreal framework in December.<\/p>\n I call on our two Charter bodies to work together to build the global momentum and mobilize the sources to successfully implement this framework.<\/p>\n The Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in May will be a good opportunity to take stock on our commitments.<\/p>\n Natural events are inevitable, but they do not have to be disasters. We can arm ourselves with knowledge. We can learn to be prepared.<\/p>\n By spreading science-based risk knowledge, constructing disaster-resilient infrastructure and improving early-action capacity, we can save millions of lives.<\/p>\n Dear colleagues,<\/p>\n Building partnerships is critical to the survival of our societies and our planet.<\/p>\n In May, the President of ECOSOC will host the Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs.<\/p>\n I will meet with the Youth Delegates attending the Commission on Social Development, and I will address the ECOSOC Youth Forum.<\/p>\n Thanks to the creation of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Youth Office, we will have the new opportunity to actively involve young people in decision-making.<\/p>\n This is the year to meaningfully engage youth in the work of the GA and other platforms of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.<\/p>\n We can also improve the complementarity between the Charter bodies\u2019 agendas on the Commission on the Status of Women.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s CSW priority theme is, \u201cEducation in the Digital Age for Achieving Gender Equality\u201d. I am sure that full equality will only be attained if we include the digital revolution in our pursuit of women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n In April, I will convene the informal dialogue on the enhanced participation of Indigenous Peoples in the General Assembly, in coordination with the meeting of the ECOSOC\u2019s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.<\/p>\n This is another opportunity to collaborate across siloes and reach across divides.<\/p>\n In 2023, the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment will be more important than ever before.<\/p>\n We live in a time in unprecedented and permanent humanitarian emergencies.<\/p>\n I urge you to put your political divergences aside and remember that we have a shared responsibility to hear the voice of those in need \u2013 and to help them.<\/p>\n But one of the greatest challenges we face is financing for development.<\/p>\n Transformation, sustainability and development all require at least two things: strong political will and sizeable investments.<\/p>\n I have appointed co-facilitators to prepare the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, who will work very closely hand-in-hand, with those appointed by the ECOSOC.<\/p>\n Dear colleagues,<\/p>\n All our current challenges are interconnected. But so are their solutions.<\/p>\n No solutions will be sustainable if they do not protect and promote human rights.<\/p>\n There is no reason for these to be championed in one forum and ignored in the other.<\/p>\n I call on Member States to embrace coherence and to recognize that human rights and sustainable development are mutually requiring and enforcing each other.<\/p>\n Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p>\n The year ahead of us is teeming with opportunities, and people are bursting with ideas.<\/p>\n I urge you to participate in the many events we have scheduled in 2023 \u2013 and you have scheduled for 2023 \u2013 and to bring your ideas home with you.<\/p>\n Let our action be guided by the logic of crisis management and transformation<\/p>\n Let us renew our trust towards one another<\/p>\n Let us break down barriers and move forward on our common goals.<\/p>\n I thank you.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 19 January 2023 Dear President Stoeva, Excellencies, friends, I\u2019m glad to see the GA and the ECOSOC walking into this new year together. So far, my monthly coordination meetings with […]<\/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":" 10 November 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\r\n Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is in crisis. It is in many crises.<\/p>\r\n It has been 15 months since the Taliban consolidated control over the country.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Its economy is in ruins. The humanitarian situation is disastrous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Two-thirds of the population is hungry.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Girls and women are banned from learning, having a job or getting proper medical care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The country is awash with heroin and opium.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Organized crime and terrorist organizations are thriving once again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Afghanistan is facing complex and interlinked challenges that the Taliban have shown they cannot \u2013 or would not \u2013 solve.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\r\n It is time to support the Afghan people with concrete solutions that place their needs front and center.<\/p>\r\n It is true that some problems will require some time to resolve.<\/p>\r\n But there are actions the Assembly can take to change the paradigm now.<\/p>\r\n I would like you to consider one solution through solidarity.<\/p>\r\n The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan \u2013 which requires $4.4 billion US dollars \u2013 is only half funded.<\/p>\r\n With winter weather just weeks away, I encourage Member States to provide urgent support to help reduce the $2.3 billion dollar shortfall.<\/p>\r\n Let\u2019s remind ourselves of the old saying from Afghanistan: \u201cA real friend is one who takes the hand of his friend in times of distress and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n Afghanistan has a rich history of scientific achievement.<\/p>\r\n I encourage the country\u2019s reengagement with the international science community.<\/p>\r\n And\u00a0to allow women who used to be respected members of the country\u2019s science community to resume their research and their studies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span>Afghanistan is now the only state in the world that would deny girls their full right to education.<\/p>\r\n The prospect of girls\u2019 education has been left to uncertainty amid seemingly random edicts from the Taliban.<\/p>\r\n This time last year, Fawzia Koofi, the first woman Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, recalled her dream of one day addressing the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ as the President of Afghanistan.<\/p>\r\n She said:\u00a0\u201cWith me, millions of girls and women in Afghanistan had this dream that now they think will never come true.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dreams of becoming President have been replaced by the reality of child marriage. Arrests if women and girls leave their home without a male chaperone.<\/p>\r\n I reiterate my call for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of all Afghans, especially women and girls.<\/p>\r\n Similarly, I urge the Taliban to ensure the safety of all Afghans, regardless of gender, ethnic background, religious belief or political affiliation.<\/p>\r\n To protect journalists and civil society members.<\/p>\r\n To allow unhindered humanitarian aid, and to cooperate with humanitarian workers.<\/p>\r\n We expect the Taliban to make good on the commitments they made to the international community.\u00a0To show honesty through\u00a0concrete action.<\/p>\r\n Excellencies,<\/p>\r\n The dramatic changes of 2021 have taken a massive toll on Afghanistan\u2019s economy and profoundly widened many security risks.<\/p>\r\n\n