Thai delegation, led by Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, attended the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (2019 HLPF), during 9-19 July 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. HLPF is convened annually as a platform for member states to follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The 2019 HLPF titled “Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality” is a milestone as it finishes the first four-year cycle since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda.

            As the current ASEAN Chair, the Deputy Permanent Secretary delivered the ASEAN’s statement highlighting enhancing people’s empowerment and participation by identifying the complementarities between the 2030 Agenda and the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 especially in the areas of poverty eradication, development of infrastructure and connectivity, and promotion of sustainable consumption, production and management. In this connection, ASEAN aims to promote sustainability in all dimensions through the process of creating a people-oriented ASEAN Community, a Community with resilience and adaptability to natural disasters and climate change, an environmentally sustainable Community, and a seamless Community ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in a sustainable manner. ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue, which will be launched in November this year, will also help advancing the work of the Thai current ASEAN Chair under the theme of “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability” in a concrete manner.

            The Deputy Permanent Secretary also delivered Thailand’s National Statement emphasizing the importance of investing in people.  Thailand has proceeded the process through the 20-year National Strategy (2017-2037), the 5-year National Economic and Social Development Plan (2018-2022) and the National Education Plan (2017-2036),  as well as other vital measures, for example, provision of basic education, Equitable Education Fund, Welfare Smart Card Project, employment for persons with disabilities, provision of Thai citizenship to numbers of stateless persons, Occupational Health and Safety Program, the establishment of “Smart Job Centres”, public-private-people partnership and the use of technology to reduce inequality. Moreover, Thailand, as a member of ECOSOC from 2020 to 2022, stands ready to promote partnership with the international community.

            The Thai delegation also participated actively and contributed constructively at the official meetings to review SDG implementation and interrelations among goals including Goal 4 (Quality Education); Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities); Goal 13 (Climate Action); Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institution); and Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Voluntary national reviews (VNRs), where member states volunteering to present national reviews on their implementation of the 2030 Agenda to share their progress, best practices, and new challenges in their contexts is also a key component of HLPF. Thailand presented its VNR at the 2017 HLPF and continues to carry on its national voluntary follow-up and review process and shares its VNR at the sidelines of the HLPF every year.

            During the 2019 HLPF, Thailand hosted the side event on “Regional contributions to empower people and promote equality: experiences, lessons learnt and way forward” to share its best practices from different regions and Thailand itself. Thailand also co-hosted side events with other countries and international organisations on the topics related to disaster risk reduction, human rights and the 2030 Agenda, and joined hands with Thailand’s business sector (Global Compact Network Thailand) in presenting the issue of family-friendly policies in the workplace.

Attending the HLPF provided Thailand with a crucial opportunity to present pathways and future directions for achieving sustainable development and an opportunity to follow up progress and review new challenges as well as to strengthen partnerships among all stakeholders. This HLPF also paved the way for the SDG Summit in September this year.