Major Groups and Other Stakeholders (MGoS) Coordination Mechanism Statement on the 2021 Ministerial Declaration
United Nations High Level Political Forum Fails to Respond to the Call of Peoples in Times of Crises! Its Ministerial Declaration Does Not Rise to the Occasion for Bold and Transformative Action
The United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) carries on its shoulder the responsibility to help the current highly unsustainable world navigate its way to eradicate poverty and hunger, tackle climate change, eliminate inequalities and ensure ecological balance within the next 10 years.
This year’s HLPF has failed to come up with bold and transformative recommendations for action in a time when approximately 4 million people have perished due to the COVID-19 pandemic, close to 190 million have become sick, over 250 million have lost their jobs, over 1.6 million had their education distrupted and hundreds of millions more have already fallen into acute hunger and extreme poverty. It
is inexcusable that during this world crisis Member States failed to agree on a strong, human-rights centered, transformative, action oriented Ministerial Declaration.
Adding to the existing crises of inequality, sustainability, climate change, rapid biodiversity loss, decent work deficit and poverty traps for low and middle income countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only dealt a devastating blow to the economies and societies , but also undermined the little progress that was being made towards achieving the SDGs.
This moment in time presents the HLPF with an acid test for inclusive multilateralism, political ambition and courage. HLPF must take a step forward from the usual intergovernmental rigamarole to make good on the promises of the 2030 Agenda.
We thank the hard work and the commitment of the co-facilitators of the Ministerial Declaration (MD) and we welcome the MD’s call to accelerated progress towards implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
However, we are deeply saddened by the lack of ambition to respond to the crises that the world is currently facing. Reaffirming old commitments (which were patently insufficient before the pandemic) is not an adequate response to the pandemic. We are extremely concerned with the consistent refusal to address the root causes and systemic barriers to achieve a world where no one is left behind (continued reliance on fossil fuel power sources, seeking infinite growth from extractivist economies, unequal power relations engendering unsustainable debt and illicit financial flows, patriarchy as a political tool, corporate capture of governance, development and sustainability agenda and its implications for the fulfilment and respect for human rights, to name a few).
Our particular concerns:
· While we appreciate efforts of the high-income countries to distribute 1 billion doses of
vaccines to developing countries, these efforts should not replace the urgent need for
making equitable universal free access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatment, including an immediate patent waiver for transfer of vaccine technology.
| Themes |
| • Advocacy • ESC rights • Globalization, negative impacts • International • Project management • Public policies • SDGs&MDGs • UN system |
