Mr. Vice President, thank you for the opportunity to address today’s cluster of proposals from Our Common Agenda.
OCA represents a call to action towards a more equitable, secure, vibrant, inclusive, and prosperous future – grounded in the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Integrated and indivisible, the SDGs offer a shared vision for prioritizing action and mobilizing resources for sustainable development. The United States is proud to recommit itself to their full implementation.
Today we wish to applaud a range of OCA proposals, especially engagement with marginalized communities, best business practices for the private sector, and the rule of law through the UN’s corruption and transnational crime frameworks. On certain other proposals, including those in paragraph 74, we intend to provide written comments.
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights offers a chance to reaffirm our core values, enhance implementation of states’ obligations under existing treaties and customary international law, and spur progress across all the SDGs.
As a first step, we can all do a better job of listening to and factoring in the views of underserved and marginalized peoples, including the displaced and stateless. This also includes civil society who play an important role in efforts to advance sustainable development.
Likewise, we would urge the private sector to answer the Secretary-General’s call to voluntarily align business practices with the implementation of the SDG’s and the values of the UN Global Compact.
We are pleased to see the OCA’s focus on the rule of law, a critical element to progress in all pillars of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental. The 2020 Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law recognized that sustainable development and rule of law are interlinked and mutually reinforcing.
Corruption and crime impede sustainable development. Effectively implementing the UN Convention against Corruption and the UN Convention against Transnational Crime can encourage investment and foster stronger, more transparent societies with good public services, decent work, and green economies.
Looking ahead, we should work by consensus, add value to existing bodies and dialogues, and respect the mandates of other international organizations. We should also respect the constraints on Member State delegations, especially the smallest, and endeavor to leave no one behind.
Mr. Vice President, the United States looks forward to partnering with others to energize progress on the SDGs. Thank you.
