Statement by Ambassador Asoke K Mukerji, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at the High Level Event of the President of the General Assembly on "Contributions of North-South, South South, Triangular Cooperation and ICT for development to the implementation of the Post 2015 Development Agenda"

(21 May 2015, Trusteeship Council)

 

Let me begin by complimenting the President of the General Assembly, H.E. Ambassador John Ashe, for bringing us together to have a collective brainstorming on how three key and critical aspects in the development discourse underway today, i.e. North South, South South and ICT for Development would contribute to implementing the biggest multilateral development project for 2015, i.e. the post 2015 development agenda.

Before I embark upon the substance of my remarks, allow me to first align my remarks with the statement delivered by the distinguished Permanent Representative of Bolivia on behalf of the G 77 & China.

Mr. President,

Allow me to flag two procedural issues first, before I delve into the substantive submissions on how we see these three key issues as contributing to the implementation of the post 2015 development agenda.

First, we are presently in May 2014, engaged in the initial stages of crafting broad contours of what would be our development goal post, which would be arrived at only by September next year. To therefore, commit ourselves today itself, to what we fully do not even know of, at this stage, may be perhaps a bit premature. Our remarks therefore flow from what we would like to figure in the post 2015 development agenda, knowing that it is an evolving process whose results are yet to be decided.

Second, it was precisely with this concern of the G77, that thematic discussions in the 18th Session of the High Level Committee on South South Cooperation were changed to focus on the role of UN Development System in promoting South South Cooperation, rather than committing prematurely to the unknown. We therefore hope that some of the key outcomes of the High Level Committee on South South Cooperation which concluded its substantive discussions yesterday, would also feed into this debate, and not be left in isolation, especially given the similarity of issues being deliberated there.

Allow me now to shift to the substance of today's debate, i.e the post 2015 agenda and how the three ingredients would play their bit in ensuring its success.

First and foremost, for the UN Development System, as well as, for the post 2015 Development Agenda to succeed, the starting premise has to be rooted in the D of UNDP, and strongly anchored on issues of 'development' ONLY. If we were to lose sight of this defining objective, and cloud ourselves with extraneous issues remotely connecting with development, we would might end up doing the development agenda a great disservice.

Second, with more than a billion plus of the global population still living at a barely hands to mouth existenc,e of less than half a dollar a day, the core focus of the post 2015 development agenda must be rooted in decimating poverty from the face of this planet. It is therefore prudent to embark upon a path that recognises the established imperatives in successive GA Resolutions which have called upon the UN Development System to "assign THE highest priority to poverty eradication" and that "it should continue to be the core focus area for the United Nations development system and that ALL its development programmes and projects should attempt to address this greatest global challenge as their underlying objective"

Third, when it comes to the role of South South cooperation, let me emphasize that the South knows its responsibilities fully well and would happily partake of it, as long as it flows from the Nairobi Outcome Document of December 2009, which was agreed by all of us, and where it was clearly established that South South cooperation is premised on the principles of voluntary partnership, anchored in national ownership, and is in line with national priorities, so that developing countries have the requisite policy space they need. South South cooperation is not supposed to be straight-jacketed in terms of rigid rules and regulations or policy prescriptions, and never comes with 'strings attached'. Flexibility and adaptability is the key to the success of South-South Cooperation, which must not be compromised.

As long as these defining pillars of South South Cooperation are not lost sight of, as a member of the South, we would be willing to walk more than the extra mile in contributing our due bit for the success of the 2015 development agenda!

However, it must also be borne in mind that the narrative and landscape of South South cooperation, which is presently driven primarily, by members of the South alone, has evolved and grown at a pace that it has assumed a life and character of its own. As the world's premier multilateral organization mandated to craft the post 2015 development agenda, the United Nations must be seen to be actively responding to the needs and expectations of the South, rather than ride upon them, in an attempt to dilute the responsibility of the North.

Which brings me to the second issue of North South cooperation and its role, where the starting premise again has to be the single most important acknowledgement, which has been consistently established in every UN document and Resolution on this subject that South-South cooperation can supplement North-South Cooperation but cannot substitute or dilute the obligation and quantum of North-South aid flows.

Principles of CBDR - Common But Differentiated Responsibility need to adhered to by the North when it comes to its role in implementing the common development agenda. In our delegations view, transfer of technologies for the benefit of developing countries, is an aspect where members of the North have a very important and significant role to play, especially given their established expertise in clean technologies in areas like agriculture development, irrigation, disaster management, rural development and capacity building. These could be critical enablers in bridging the technological divide that exists between the developed and developing world.

On the third aspect of ICTs for Development, it is the considered view of our delegation which has been consistently placed across all funds and programmes that empowering women using enabling technologies, can be a game changer if harnessed and applied to its full potential in developing countries. ICT technologies if properly harnessed can change the lives of millions of women across the globe. By applying enhanced ICT technologies for women in education, access to clean drinking water, healthcare, rural handicrafts and communications and decentralise their uses by transferring the access, control, management and ownership of such sophisticated technologies to rural women themselves, we would be able to bring about structural transformation in the lives of millions of women across the globe.

Mr. President,

I would like to conclude by stating that all of us, each and every member state, has an equal stake in ensuring the success of the post 2015 development agenda. Be it South South Cooperation, North South or ICTs for development, all three of them in their own unique ways, force multiply the common global good that we would be committing ourselves to in 2015. We have an ancient Indian gospel, best manifested here at the United Nations, which says "Vasudhaiva Kuttambakam - the world is one family". As members of the UN family, please rest assured of our steadfast support and collective commitment in ensuring the success of the global development agenda.

I thank you Mr. President.

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