Statement by Maldives on behalf of the
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
"Towards a Global Partnerships"
4 November 2015
Mr. Chairman,
1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
2. We take this opportunity to thank the Secretary-General for his report on this agenda item, which will be instrumental in guiding us as we deliberate on the matter of global partnerships here in the Second Committee.
3. While acknowledging the primary responsibility of States for their own sustainable development, it is accepted that the persistent development challenges we face can be addressed through an enhanced and revitalised Global Partnership for development, adequate provision and mobilisation of all means of implementation and continued international support to achieve the internationally-agreed goals.
4. In this regard, genuine and durable partnerships will play a crucial role in advancing our core interests, in realising the sustainable development goals, and in harnessing the full potential of engagement at all levels of government, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders. Partnerships are instrumental to the mobilisation of human and financial resources, expertise, technology and knowledge. And above all, partners are powerful drivers of change.
5. The processes of this year, namely the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), all highlighted the importance of public-private and multi-stakeholder partnerships as key instruments, whether for promoting the importance of disaster risk reduction for sustainable development and resilience, or for mobilizing human and financial resources, expertise, technology and knowledge, or for eradicating poverty and solving sustainable development challenges overall.
6. We also note the important role the United Nations and its agencies, funds and programmes play in public-private and multi-stakeholder partnerships, and ways in which this can be further enhanced and strengthened.
7. These partnerships have to be based on the principles of national ownership, mutual trust, transparency and accountability. They should be specific to national contexts and circumstances.
8. We note that the United Nations is increasingly acknowledging the value that businesses can bring to helping to achieve development goals, and identifying the private sector as a crucial player in realizing the goals of the international community. These engagements however, come with its own difficulties, as comprehensive reporting of partnership activities remains a challenge, hindering transparency and accountability.
9. This is why SIDS have identified the need for a dedicated partnership framework in the SAMOA Pathway, which we hope to operationalize during this session. This partnership framework will follow up and review the partnerships announced at the Third International Conference on SIDS, as well as encourage new partnerships, including through dedicated global partnership dialogues which would bring together SIDS and their partners, to discuss progress, challenges, and solutions to those challenges in cultivating and sustaining partnerships in SIDS.
10. In closing Mr. Chairman, while we encourage the United Nations system to continue its work to encourage public-private and multi-stakeholder partnerships, and while we highly appreciate these partnerships, we do not believe that these can replace or offset official development assistance (ODA) commitments. The 2030 Agenda is our collective commitment and only by working together can we achieve the mandate we have set out for ourselves and "leave no one behind".
I thank you.
