President of the General Assembly,
President of the Security-Council,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
It is an honour for me to join you this evening.
The work of ECOSOC and PBC is inextricably linked.
Violence and conflict are the most pervasive obstacles to development. At the same time, the lack of development is a prominent driver of violence and conflict.
The interlinkages between peace and sustainable development were clearly recognized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The 2030 Agenda aims to realize a just, equitable, inclusive and peaceful world.
The Agenda acknowledges that reducing discrimination, violence and conflict- along with ensuring good governance and inclusion- are important for people’s well-being, and essential to achieve sustainable development.
The twin resolutions concluding the 2015 United Nations peacebuilding architecture emphasize the importance of taking the needs of all segments of the population into account, to build a common vision of society and to sustain peace.
Likewise, the 2030 Agenda pledges to “leave no one behind” and “endeavor to reach the furthest behind first”. These premises are crucial to promote equality, human rights, social cohesion, peace and sustainable development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This year is an important one for the 2030 Agenda. The High-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) concluded the first cycle of review of all the SDGs.
The review revealed that, while progress has been made on many fronts, regrettably we are still lagging behind in achieving the aspirations set in the Agenda.
Of particular concern is that, by 2030, more than half of the world’s poor are projected to live in countries affected by conflict. This figure could increase to 80 per cent by 2035.
Let us not forget that, given their limited capacities and resources, conflict-affected countries have the most difficulties in achieving the SDGs.
Within the United Nations, a comprehensive whole of-system response, including close cooperation among development, humanitarian, human rights and peace and security actors, is necessary to successfully achieve the SDGs.
We have discussed the nexus-issues at length – why are we still struggling to find the right responses? This is particularly challenging in the nexus of humanitarian and peace.
Different and possibly diverging mandates and point of departure make conversations hard and implementation harder.
We need to address this head on together, and not speak in silos.
Since 2010, annual ECOSOC-PBC joint meetings have contributed to strengthening the peace-development nexus.
Last year’s joint meeting resulted in ECOSOC currently working on a possible resolution on the Sahel, aimed at helping address the multidimensional challenges in the region, and strengthening collective engagement of all stakeholders in achieving sustainable development and peace.
The situation in the Sahel is of particular concern to both the PBC and ECOSOC due to its complex challenges, which can only be successfully tackled through a cross-sectoral approach.
The next ECOSOC-PBC Joint meeting will take place at the end of November, and the proposed focus is again on the Sahel.
I wish you fruitful deliberations as you prepare for the 2020 review of the peacebuilding architecture. This is a good opportunity to further strengthen efforts towards building and sustaining peace and, ultimately, towards transforming the world for the better.
Thank you.