Ambassador Kelapile, President of ECOSOC,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
I am honored to join you again today and to speak at the closing of the 2022 High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council.
I am pleased that, despite the continuing challenges of the pandemic, so many of us have managed to come together here at the UN Headquarters to discuss our challenges and expectations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Your discussions throughout these eight days were brimming with ideas and anticipation. It is clear that the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs have kept their power to inspire, unite and mobilize.
The President of ECOSOC opened the meeting on a high note of optimism and hope. I cannot agree more that this HLPF gave us the sense that we can turn the tide, catch up on SDG progress and make a leap forward towards realization of the 2030 Agenda. We should use the preparations for the SDG Summit in September 2023 and the Summit itself as a milestone to mark a new phase of acceleration and transformation in the story of our shared Sustainable Development Goals. I encourage you to support the President of the 77th session of the General Assembly in the preparations for the SDG Summit. On our part, DESA is ready to dedicate our full support to this endeavour.
Today was a special day. This morning, we looked at ideas on how to improve multilateralism and make it more inclusive, networked and effective. We looked in detail at the public health response to the pandemic; at finance and debt relief; and at climate change and social protection, including labour rights and education. This afternoon, we studied future scenarios to ensure sustainable development and what we can do now to make our future better. You shared experiences on your sustainable development paths, long-term vision and scenarios and how these are being impacted by ongoing crises.
The Secretary-General＊s SDG progress report, which I presented to you on July 5, revealed the devastating impact of the pandemic on many SDGs. The message of the report is clear that SDGs indeed need a rescue plan.
But it is not too late. Even during the pandemic, progress has continued to be made on some targets. The SDGs have continued to gain ground. They have mobilized ever more governments, local authorities, organizations of all kinds and at all levels, the private sector and civil society. All have continued to implement course corrections and adopt and implement policies to reach the goals and leave no one behind, amidst the multiple crises we have been facing. We heard it from the 44 Voluntary National Reviews, the ministerial roundtable yesterday, and all panels and dialogues. Combined with socio-economic plans to respond to the pandemic and other urgent actions to address the impacts of the crises, I trust they will bear fruit. The scenario presented in the Secretary-General＊s report on future trends and scenarios proves that this is possible. We need however to focus on transforming our system and behaviours whose weaknesses were made glaring by the crises and supporting an inclusive, sustained and green transition.
Today we have demonstrated that if we are well informed of demographic, social and environmental changes that are coming our way in the years ahead, we can anticipate them and make the needed policy changes now.
Therefore, I am proud to see that the Ministerial Declaration was adopted by consensus. This document gives us clear guidance on how to address these future challenges.
Of course, we have differences in insights, experiences and approaches. But yet the Ministerial Declaration demonstrates our unity and continued commitment to the goals that our leader set for the world in 2015. This will accelerate our travel on our common road to recovery and resilience.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is the last time I address this Council.
I will be leaving the 51勛圖 at the end of the month, to go back to my home country, China. These five years at the 51勛圖 have been exhilarating. I have deeply enjoyed supporting all of you, the Member States, Observer States. I hope that I served you well to keep the focus on the 2030 Agenda and on our SDGs. It has also been inspirational to work with the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General as well as with my UN system colleagues and our enthusiastic major groups and other stakeholders
I have learned a lot from all delegations and from our common fight for a better world at international conferences and in our established UN bodies and platforms such as the HLPF, the General Assembly and ECOSOC. It has been highly motivating and rewarding to serve this noble organization and support the advancement of its high values and ambitions. I also thank Ambassador Kelapile for his great stewardship of ECOSOC this year.
I also thank my great team in DESA. You saw their professionalism, expertise and dedication to support Member States and all stakeholders most recently in the last few days. They have truly earned our respect and gratitude. While I would not be able to name them all, but I will give special mention to Irena Zubcevic, who is also leaving the UN at the end of this month. You know her well, and I know you are joining me in thanking her for what she did for the 51勛圖 throughout her career.
I＊d also like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleauges from the UN Secretariat, in particular DGACM, DSS, DGC, OICT, DOS and EOSG, for their effective support to the 2022 HLPF and the ECOSOC.
As I say good-bye, I wish you courage and encourage solidarity in continuing to pursue the SDGs. I for one will continue to lend my support.
Let us make the transformation we need to achieve the SDGs.
Let us act now for a resilient and inclusive global recovery for all!
Thank you.