Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at the UNGA Second Committee under Item 19 "Sustainable Development"
Mr. Chair,
Distinguished delegates,
Dear colleagues,
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 marked a paradigm shift in both national sustainable development policies and international cooperation.
Ukraine is undergoing fundamental transformations on social, economic and political tracks. In spite of this as well as temporary occupation of parts of our territory, we are fully committed to the implementation of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.
In this regard, it should be specially noted that Ukraine is one of the leaders in the region in terms of adaptation of the SDGs. We generally have achieved progress toward 14 of 17 Goals. The main achievements comprise poverty reduction (SDG1): from 58.3% in 2015 to 43.2%, implementation of the long-term concept of educational reform “New Ukrainian School” (SDG4), renewable power generation increased by 213% of installed capacity in the production balance (SDG7), decentralization reform - 1029 territorial communities were formed, which is the key to sustainable urban and community development (SDG11).
As a kind of intermediate result on this path, this year, during the The High-level Political Forum, we presented, for the first time, our voluntary national review, which once again demonstrates our commitment to the process of fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr. Chair,
At the same time, we are convinced that the importance of implementation the Sustainable Development Goals is one of the main priorities not only at the national levels, but also in the field of international cooperation and mutual assistance.
In this regard, Ukraine welcomes UN initiatives aimed at halving global hunger, which in turn could affect all other development goals.
We, like nobody, know the price of hunger. This year, in the end of November, we will once again mark the Day of Holodomor victims in Ukraine, artificially organized mass killings, which took away the lives of many millions of people in my country. Therefore, now that, when 700 million people in the world, especially on the African continent, are starving and another one billion do not get enough nutrients in their diet, we, as a state in whose territory almost a quarter of all world black earth are located, can not stand apart from this problems and are ready to offer the world their help in addressing the issue of food security.
Ukraine also has always consistently supported Small Island Developing States within the UN. In particular, in April 2017, my country initiated the UNSC Arria-formula meeting: “Security Implications of Climate Change: Sea-level Rise”, during which the participating countries discussed in detail how the international community can effectively meet the security challenges for SIDS in connection with climate change.
For our part, we also hope for the support of the world community in issues of vital importance to us. In particular, four years we also have reached an important benchmark - the completion of the UN Action Plan on Chornobyl and of the Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of Chornobyl-affected regions. However, there is a clear need for a continuous effort to keep the issue of post-Chornobyl recovery high on the inter-agency and international agendas.
Mr. Chair,
The COVID-19 epidemic has drawn the attention of our society to the value of the human life and the importance of medical profession for the health and longevity of the population, as well as importance of availability of internal reserves, the production of vital products and the role of the manufacturing industry in general. The return of migrant workers underlines the importance of combining market mechanisms and government instruments for creation of jobs with decent wages.
At the same time, we are convinced that no country alone can achieve sustainable development without sustainable peace and security. We, Ukrainians, know at first-hand what a conflict means. The problem of states facing armed conflicts stands in the heart for Ukraine.
In this light, we consider it necessary to highlight the need to put all the universal goals of sustainable development like fighting hunger and climate change together with the goals aimed to bringing peaceful resolutions to the conflicts.
We believe that a constructive multi-stakeholder dialogue may facilitate the widest possible cooperation to ensure the appropriate consideration of the emerging sustainable development challenges as well as guarantee the most appropriate mutually beneficial way of addressing them.
Thank you for your attention.