18 July 2016: The Ministerial Segment of the 2016 session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) opened with a day of keynote speeches, discussion of main messages from the first week of HLPF proceedings, and panel discussions on the theme ‘Ensuring that no one is left behind.’
Highlighting key outcomes from the previous week’s discussions, Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Vice President, stressed the need for: strengthening national statistical institutes; reaching the most marginalized first; revitalizing the global partnership; cooperating on science, technology and innovation (STI); and addressing emerging issues and bottlenecks in the Global Sustainable Development Report 2019. Héctor Alejandro Palma Cerna, Permanent Mission of Honduras and ECOSOC Vice President, highlighted the need to: generate national- and grassroots-level ownership of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); integrate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into national and subnational plans; involve local and subnational governments, as well as stakeholders; address challenges of countries in special situations; work with regional fora; and ensure robust and participatory Voluntary National Reports (VNRs).
Participants discussed the importance of addressing inequality and vulnerability through public policy, social protection and other mechanisms, during a panel discussion on ‘Reaching the most vulnerable.’ Others urged a focus on youth and migrants. Some emphasized the financial aspect of those left behind, highlighting the potential of financial inclusion strategies to empower those left behind. They underscored the role of public budgets in reducing disparities, and stressed revenue allocation to reach marginalized peoples. A representative of indigenous peoples recommended including indicators on land, territory and natural resources.
Keynote addresses on the ‘Challenges of countries in special situations’ emphasized the will to implement as a key requirement for the SDGs, and the importance of coherence with the Istanbul and Vienna Programmes of Action (IPoA and VPoA) and the SAMOA Pathway. Participants also highlighted the need to include climate impacts in the definition of fragility, and to implement financing for development (FfD) commitments. Italy urged addressing root causes in countries in special situations to deal with the refugee crisis, and announced its commitment to triple its current aid budget by 2018.
On ‘Unlocking means of implementation (MOI) for SDGs and creating an enabling environment,’ participants stressed the importance of improving coherence, and called for participatory decision-making at all levels. Participants also highlighted national priorities and situations.
The General Debate began at the end of the day, with statements from Member States, country groups and stakeholders.
HLPF is convening from 11-20 July at UN Headquarters in New York, the US. The Ministerial Segment will continue on 19 July with the first set of VNR presentations, a “special address” by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and additional statements in the General Debate. [UN Meeting Summary] [UN Press Release] [IISD RS Coverage of HLPF] [HLPF 2016 Website]