New York Dear ladies and gentlemen, Goals and objectives of the post-2015 development agenda are integral and indivisible, but also global and comprehensive so that they do not overlook any aspect of sustainable development in national plans or miss out a country on the globe.

Additionally, they take into account the different gaps between countries. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are universally inspirational, and governments all over the world are invited to decide how best to incorporate these objectives in their own planning processes, national policies and strategies, in which each government- guided by the level of global ambition- sets its own national goals.

Despite how great and important they are, it is unfortunate that the implementation and adherence to these aims are optional for states due to the absence of a UN procedure that compels governments to include them as part of plans and strategies as well as to commit to implementation. Similarly, there is nothing what obliges countries, which have pledged to finance the sustainable development, to honour pledges at a regular and sustainable manner. This contrasts with the essence of the idea that the global multidimensional sustainable development is a necessity, which is an inalienable right for all human beings. 

Failure to observe environmental development, for instance, may cause harm to our common future. Unfortunately, many developed countries do not allow for the safety of the Earth as they obsessively continue with industrialization, the search for minerals and climatically, environmentally harmful activities, threatening ecosystem and biodiversity.

We fear that when we always - while discussing the global sustainable development and setting its plans- stress the need to take “priorities and national circumstances” into consideration, some may use it as a justification for failure to proceed with the implementation of sustainable development goals and take them into account. It could be also a justification for the omission of main aspect under the pretext of national priorities and state capabilities, or countries that have pledged to finance the global development may find it an opportunity to evade pledges made at international summits and conferences, the latest of which was the summit of Addis Ababa.     

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is unfortunate that developed, developing or poor countries may fall behind, which accordingly has various consequences because they do not develop plans in accordance with goals and objectives of multi-dimensional sustainable development, do not care about environmental safety and social development at the domestic level and are not committed to financing the sustainable development according to their own promises.    

Poor and developing countries, on the other hand, may fall behind as a result of a deficit in planning and management, corruption or lacking of funding.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Sustainable Development Agenda are, in essence, based on the idea that the planet is our mother and home whose integrity is everyone’s right and everyone’s duty, and that globalization should be beneficial for all but not only for the rich while being detrimental to the poor. 

To put it bluntly, if developed countries commit themselves to protecting the environment and saving the climate in their different activities, and paying the annual percentage earmarked for financing global development programs, we will have cut half the distance. For their part, if developing and poor countries commit themselves to streamlining administration to ensure transparency, accountability, anti-corruption and proper planning for the implementation of development goals, we will have the other half of the distance in order to achieve the noblest goal represented by “no one is left behind”.   

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

While we speak about the development objectives of countries passing through difficult times such as Yemen where state institutions are taken over, UN resolutions are not implemented and dialogue, despite all this, keeps going with a militia that violates rights of people even as human beings, something strange draws attention. A country like Turkey that keeps progressing towards development and democracy has faced a coup attempt against its democratic system and all great efforts made for the well-being of citizens.  

Thus, when talking about countries that suffer from difficult conditions, it should be focused on two things essential to the implementation of the development goals: 

1) standing firmly against militia and military coups because they confiscate rights to life, development, prosperity and a decent living; 

2) maintaining democratic systems and responding to the aspirations of the peoples who look for change, freedom and dignity, and this is the duty of the international community towards these countries’ peoples and youth who forward to a better tomorrow according to these lofty goals.

We should strengthen the role of organizations working in the field of development such as "FAO" and finance projects to enable organizations to participate effectively in the eradication of hunger and poverty and achieve food security and sustainable agricultural development. Here I wish to refer to “FAO – Nobel Peace Laureates Alliance for Food Security and Peace” and the role the alliance could play in this regard.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

To achieve the sustainable development goals, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development - where we attend today its first summit since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs- plays a major role as it is an institutional framework aimed at increasing the United Nations’ effectiveness to implement UN resolutions and agreements in respect with the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Agenda. 

It is important to know that the world is not short of agreements, UN resolutions, programs or plans, but the missing link is the absence of the necessary mechanisms to implement them in a mandatory manner, which could be done through the political forum’s objectives.  

One can say that the political forum could serve as the missing link that pushes us forward. It can also play a pivotal role in following up the implementation of the agenda and objectives of the post-2015 development agenda in a comprehensive manner so that no one is left behind. To achieve that, the political forum is required to: 

Provide political leadership and recommendations, embody principles of transparency and accountability in a manner that ensures that goals and objectives of sustainable development agenda are taken into account in plans and strategies of each member country and whether they are implemented in a comprehensive manner, resolve problems, offer solutions to obstacles and challenges so as to achieve the agenda.

So this leads us to talk about the political forum as an entity whose outcomes are obligatory so that they are not canceled under any pretext, even the pretext of national sovereignty. The supreme interest of our mother, the earth, requires that benefits and burdens of globalization should be equally shared and that we have to look at the world as a home but as a small village. 

I know that this dream face lot of challenges and difficulties, but the fate of humanity is to move forward and to struggle for it at all levels.

 Thank you!