19 October 2015: Presenting the report of the 2015 session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), President Oh Joon highlighted key results and messages from the session, and noted that the entire ECOSOC system, including its functional and regional commissions, committees and expert bodies, is mobilized towards supporting UN Member States on policy integration and on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 19 October 2015, Oh said the year 2015 has been “highly productive and significant” for the work of Council. Its accomplishments include, he said: convening a dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system; applying the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development to employment creation and decent work; advancing Financing for Development (FfD); strengthening the coordination of the humanitarian assistance of the UN; conducting a review, including through National Voluntary Presentations, of the 2015 session’s main theme on what it will take to manage the transition to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); considering the role and features of multi-stakeholder partnerships in implementing the 2030 Agenda; and incorporating youth perspectives in the international dialogue on development.

The President also underlined key messages of the 2015 session, noting: the increasingly complex development challenges that call for coordinated and integrated policy responses, through deepening cooperation at all levels and strengthening integration across the three dimensions of sustainable development; the need for strong, adaptable and inclusive institutions at all levels for improved coordination and integration; the critical role of realizing the global partnership for sustainable development to meet the demands of the new agenda, building on a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all partners including national and international, and public and private; and the importance of an effective and inclusive follow-up process to ensure full implementation of the 2030 Agenda, based on empirical evidence and the use of data.

Oh said the 2016 ECOSOC session on the theme ‘Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Moving from commitments to results’ will be crucial for ECOSOC as “we lead in the global implementation and review of the 2030 Agenda,” and noted that it will be the first time that the ECOSOC forum on FfD, mandated by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), will be convened.

Finally, he called on the UNGA, the ECOSOC system, and the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF) held under the auspices of both ECOSOC and the UNGA, to work closely together to support implementation. [UN Press Release] [ECOSOC President Statement]