STATEMENT AT THE APRIL SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATIONS ON THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA DURING THE INTERACTIVE SESSION OF MAJOR GROUPS AND STAKEHOLDERS ON 23RD APRIL, 2015 BY MR SAMUEL ZAN AKOLOGO1, ON BEHALF OF CARITAS ORGANIZATIONS.
Your Excellencies, Co-Chairs and Facilitators
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I bring you greetings of peace and solidarity from the Catholic Caritas Family which is dedicated to a transformational development agenda and public policies that are centred on the human person; especially the poor and marginalized. At the personal level, I bring you greetings from my country Ghana.
I wish to commend the Co-Chairs for so far facilitating a broadly inclusive and open process of negotiations of the Sustainable Development Goals which have been proposed by the Open Working Group. We commend also the inspirational leadership on the Post 2015 Development Agenda by the Secretary General through his Synthesis Report. These initiatives have created enthusiasm for Developing Countries and Civil Society to continue to engage with the process. I note in particular, the Common African Position that has built consensus and provided a framework for engagement by Governments in Africa. The participation of people living in poverty should continue to be our lynchpin in the implementation, monitoring and accountability of this ambitious sustainable development agenda. Linkages need to be drawn between proposed goals and existing processes at national, regional and global levels, including predictable financing mechanisms to deliver our shared ambition. Fundamental values of Trust, solidarity, participation and subsidiarity must underpin the Means of Implementation framework to be agreed upon. We welcome the growing consensus around moving forward with the proposed Sustainable Development Goals without opening them up to further
debates.
Financing for Development is Important
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. We welcome the efforts towards matching the FfD with the ambitions of the Post 2015 Development Agenda. While we look forward to the conclusions and agreements to be made at the third international conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in July, we encourage openness, participation and convergence with the Post 2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations during the planning for this important meeting. The convergence of major Groups, Stakeholders and Co-Chairs of the two processes during this session should not be a one off event, but be sustained. The outcome of the Financing for Development meeting in July will be important only if it builds on and improves upon previous international agreements on development financing. Moreover, FfD should also look beyond the current model of Development Cooperation with courage and boldness to confront its challenges and limitations. For example, Developing Countries need support and commitment to protect, safeguard and retain their own local resources to implement the Post
2015 Development Agenda. We note, in particular the urgent need to halt illicit financial flows
from these countries. It will be regrettable if the bar is lowered.
Other Means of Implementation Matter Also
Your Excellencies. We draw attention to fundamental principles already agreed for effective Development Cooperation under the Busan Compact. We note in particular obligations placed on Donor Partners in their relationship with aid recipient countries. Capacity building, knowledge sharing, use of country systems, removal of aid conditionalities, local ownership and participation remain critical principles to be upheld at all times in partnerships for development. Without time to outline the details now, suffice it for me to entreat your Excellencies to ensure that the Means of Implementation for the post 2015 Development Agenda do respect the principles of the Busan Compact, UN principles for Sustainable Development and incorporate them into the framework for all actors and sources – old and new in development financing.
Your Excellencies, we also propose a robust, comprehensive and accessible Global
Accountability Mechanism as part of the Means of Implementation of the Post 2015
Development Agenda. Statements of aspiration are lofty but periodic reviews of progress towards key benchmarks, performance standards and measures to address failings are indispensable to the implementation process. The existing accountability frameworks for development at all levels (National, Regional and Global), with their selective application and lack of citizens’ control, are great weaknesses in the delivery of development outcomes. We think that a Global Accountability Mechanism is possible within the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities. The good news is that there are already frameworks that can be built on and improved upon. We should not fail humanity by missing this opportunity to agree on means and systems to deliver the global aspirational and transformational agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In conclusion, Your Excellencies we reiterate that global peace, good governance and citizens’
agency are overarching and essential pre-conditions for the implementation of the Post 2015
Development Agenda. The greatest need of especially the youth today is hope and recognition of their perspectives for the future! Your Excellencies have an obligation to give that hope and recognize their perspectives through the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
I thank you Co-Chairs and you Distinguished Audience of this important session.
1 Mr Samuel Zan Akologo is Executive Secretary of the Department of Human Development (Caritas Ghana) of the
Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference. He is member of Caritas Internationalis Global Working Group on the Post
2015 Development Agenda. He can be contacted on szan@ighmail.com and +233 244 318 807.