Presentations on regional preparation meetings as they relate to AMR,
Economic and Social Council Chamber,
United Nations

Mr. President,
Ministers, Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. It is my honour to present some key outcomes of the inaugural Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) organized jointly by the Royal Thai Government and ESCAP in Pattaya from 19-21 May. The Forum is Asia-Pacific regional preparation for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Around 280 participants from ESCAP Member States, the UN agencies, other international organizations and major groups attended the Forum.

2. Several Asia-Pacific priorities that need to be further enhanced in the ongoing global deliberations were identified. Among them are disaster risk reduction, building resilience to multiple shocks, addressing the specific needs of least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states, employment generation, deepening regional integration and connectivity, inclusive and sustained economic growth that respects planetary boundaries, and the access to ICT.

3.  Eradicating poverty and narrowing inequality, promoting gender equality and women empowerment, responding to population dynamics and urbanization, improving resource efficiency and natural resource management, and addressing climate change are also identified as key priorities.

4.  Financing for sustainable development; science, technology and innovation (STI); rule based and equitable multi-lateral trading systems; strengthened regional and global partnerships for development engaging multi-stakeholders; effective governance and rule of law for a transformation towards sustainable development were highlighted as indispensable means of implementation (MOI).

5.  A regional preparatory session for the 2014 Annual Ministerial Review of the ECOSOC under the theme “Addressing on-going and emerging challenges for meeting the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 and for sustaining development gains in the future” was also organized. High-level panelists from Armenia, Nauru, Nepal and Thailand provided perspectives from developing countries, including the region’s least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states

6.  The following key messages emerged from the high-level panel discussion as regional inputs for the 2014 AMR

         1) Progress towards achieving the MDGs within and across countries in the region has been uneven. Levels of disparities and deprivation remained very high. Thus, the MDGs would likely to be an “unfinished agenda”.

        2) To address persistent inequalities, governments were encouraged to take steps to strengthen human rights, the rule of law, open and accountable institutions, and social protection, create decent and productive work for all, promote nondiscriminatory political, legal and socio-cultural norms and prevent over-exploitation of natural resources.

        3) Universal access to quality education and health services are priorities in the context of reducing poverty and inequalities.

        4) Disaster risk reduction is critical to the region and should be adequately addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.

        5) Emerging challenges including youth unemployment and low job creation, rapid urbanization, access to clean water and basic sanitation, climate change and environmental pressure such as pollution and water scarcity also need to be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.

        6) To successfully accelerate progress towards the MDGs, political commitment, national ownership, capacity building, political stability and absence of conflict, integrated policy and cross-sectoral approaches are indispensable.

        7) Development cooperation is essential but should go beyond ODA and encompass facilitating more intra- and inter-regional trade, building regional infrastructure, facilitating mutually beneficial flows of labour, technology transfer, and promoting regional flow of investments.

        8) Regional economic cooperation and integration, with special support measures for LDCs, LLDs and SIDS, should be a critical element in South-South cooperation towards sustainable development. The private sector should be actively engaged in all efforts. Also essential was the shift of consumption patterns and production structures towards a more sustainable path of development

7. I look forward to hearing the views and inputs from other regions. These regional inputs, I believe, will be very useful for the deliberations of the post 2015 development agenda that is universal and applicable to all. Thank you for your kind attention.