Mr. Wu Hongbo Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Secretary-General for the International Conference on Small Island Developing States

Remarks
The Fifty-fourth Session of the Committee for Programme and Coordination

10 June 2014, New York

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished delegates of the Committee,

I have the honour to introduce the proposed strategic framework for 2016-2017 for programme 7 on economic and social affairs. The programme is under the responsibility of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Our central objective is to promote international cooperation in the pursuit of sustainable development for all.

During the biennium 2016-2017, the Department will further strengthen the core of its work and focus on the following key programmatic areas:

First, we will continue to provide substantive support to intergovernmental processes.

Second, we will monitor and analyse development trends, prospects and policy issues globally.

Third, we remain committed to assisting in capacity development to support the implementation of global conference outcomes.

In preparing the strategic framework, we have taken into account valuable feedback received from Member States regarding our work as well as the programme performance review of the 2012-2013 biennium. We will apply the lessons learned to our programme delivery.

The Department will continue to support the follow-up to the Rio+20 outcome and the preparation of the post-2015 development agenda. The Department will ensure substantive support to the work of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which will provide high-level policy guidance for the implementation of the sustainable development commitments and objectives within the context of the post-2015 development agenda.

DESA is also supporting the work of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and organizing General Assembly structured dialogues to consider possible arrangements for a facilitation mechanism to promote the development, transfer, and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies.

The implementation of the Rio+20 outcome will continue through the 2016-2017 biennium guided by decisions of Member States. The strategic framework for 2016-2017 will be the first following the adoption in September 2015 of decisions on the advancement of the UN development agenda beyond that year. The strategic framework will have to be updated to reflect any new mandates in accordance with accepted practice.

The Department will continue to lead the efforts of the Organization to promote and support sustained follow-up to the agreements reached at the Monterrey and Doha Conferences on Financing for Development and related outcomes of major UN conferences and summits, including in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. The Department will provide substantive support to the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 13-16 July 2015. The reports of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing and of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals will serve as important inputs to the preparation of the Conference.

DESA, as the dedicated secretariat for the 2014 International Conference on Small Island Developing States has been providing – together with other UN entities – intensive support to the preparations for the conference that is scheduled to be held in Samoa from 1 – 4 September 2014. The Department will support the conference and its follow-up process in close cooperation with other UN entities.

We remain committed to advancing sustainable forest management and implementation of the non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests and its four global objectives on forests.

The new intergovernmental architecture has been a significant opportunity for the Economic and Social Council. The recently concluded first-ever integration segment has provided a unique platform to stimulate dialogue on how sustainable urbanization can be achieved through incorporating the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

The Development Cooperation Forum will continue to serve as a forum for dialogue on the effectiveness and coherence of international development cooperation and as an authoritative source of analysis on trends in development cooperation. With its analytical work and high-level symposia the DCF is contributing to a new narrative for development cooperation post-2015 and a robust post-2015 accountability framework for development cooperation.

The General Assembly will undertake its second Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review in the 2016-2017 biennium. Supporting the review ranks high on our agenda.

Drawing from its monitoring, research and policy analysis, the Department will support United Nations intergovernmental processes by providing Member States with timely and accurate information about major trends in the world economy, emerging issues, potential risks, and policy options.

We will seek to advance our work in important areas of governance and e-government and to foster effective, efficient, transparent, accountable, innovative and citizen-centred public governance, administration and services for sustainable development.

We will continue to strengthen international cooperation on poverty eradication, full employment and decent work and social integration with particular emphasis on older persons, youth, families and persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples.

DESA will seek to further strengthen the international community’s capacity to effectively address current and emerging population issues. We will continue to provide consistent, comprehensive and up-to-date estimates and projections of basic population indicators. The monitoring of world population trends will continue to form an important part of our work programme.

We will further advance the global statistical and geospatial information system in order to produce high-quality, easily accessible comparable national statistics and geospatial information systems. We will build a solid information base by supporting Member States to build and strengthen their national statistical and geospatial information capacity.

Recognizing the importance of strengthening synergies in the Secretariat’s economic and social activities, we consult regularly with our ECESA (Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs) partners.

The Department will continue to emphasize the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into its sub-programmes.

We will maintain our efforts to strengthen horizontal linkages across the nine sub-programmes of the Department in order to enhance our support for normative work by intergovernmental bodies and our analytical and capacity development work.

DESA will continue to assist developing countries in supporting the implementation of global conference outcomes. While each sub-programme has its own focus area for capacity development, we are further developing an integrated approach and have adopted an Integrated Work Plan as an instrument that allows us to pursue inter-divisional synergies.

In closing, let me stress again that in the biennium 2016-2017 we will continue to mobilize and provide practical support to help translate development commitments into action.

We look forward to your guidance and your comments on the strategic framework.

Thank you.

 

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