The Assistant for Minister Foreign Affairs, Honourable Lenora Qereqeretabua delivered Fiji’s national statement at the High-Level segment of the United Nations (UN) High Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2023 on Sustainable Development currently held at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Under the theme, ‘Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels,’ the HLPF 2023 is held from Monday, 10 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2023.
The Forum provides an opportunity for the UN Member States to discuss effective and inclusive recovery measures to address the impacts of the pandemic on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) at national level.
In her remarks, the Honourable Qereqeretabua reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to ensure sustainable and inclusive development that prioritizes the wellbeing and welfare of our communities in Fiji.
“In our commitment to the 2030 Agenda, we are presenting our 2nd Voluntary National Review Report this week. Ensuring that Fijians have water in their taps, better health facilities, better roads, undisrupted electricity, improved transportation, affordable housing and improvement in living standards, is a top priority.
“To fully realise this, collaborative efforts across all levels of society, and in partnership with development partners is key,” Honourable Qereqeretabua said.
She said Fiji continues to forge ahead, in ensuring that the needs of the most vulnerable of our communities, are met, despite the global challenges of multiple and on-going crises in one form or another.
In acknowledging that, ‘Climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of our people and ecosystems,’ she informed the Forum that the Pacific is proactively engaging as a region, to plan the way forward to beyond 2030.
Honourable Qereqeretabua informed the Forum on the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent which is Pacific’s collective vision and our blueprint for a safe and prosperous Blue Pacific, in our future.
She called on the Member States, saying “What more, can we do together to ensure that our children, and their children have a chance to live in a safe and prosperous world?”
“The pathways we choose need to be inclusive and people-centred, and environmentally sustainable. The transformative and accelerated action needed must address inequalities and debt burden, leverage technologies, create economic opportunities, and promote partnerships and most of all support vulnerable developing countries,” Honourable Qereqeretabua elaborated.
She said the upcoming SDG Summit in September is the opportunity to review our progress and identify opportunities for greater collaboration.
“Given that we only have 7 years before 2030, we need a fair and equitable access to the necessary resources to give us equal footing and to enable sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Fiji is encouraged by the on-going work on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index for SIDS, which goes beyond traditional measures of development to capture our vulnerabilities,” Honourable Qereqeretabua highlighted.
Fiji is among the 39 countries which are presenting their voluntary national review at the 2023 HLP, which reviews in-depth progress on five of the SDGs, ahead of the SDG Summit to take place this September.
It will be an opportunity to further review global progress on the 2030 Agenda and identify opportunities for increased collaboration.
The SDG’s under review at the 2023 HLPF are the Goals, 6 on clean water and sanitation, 7 on affordable and clean energy, 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals.
