Co-Chairs,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, the Group of 77 and China wishes to express its appreciation to you co-chairs for your hard work and leadership of the process so far.

This 10th session of the Open Working Group is an important opportunity for the member states to collectively advance the discussions on a set of ambitious, balanced and development-oriented SDGs on the basis of the revised version of the focus areas document provided by you. The Group of 77 and China is fully prepared to engage in concrete discussions based on the program of work drawn up.

Co-Chairs,

While the Group would make specific interventions to address the different cluster of issues in the coming days, we would like to reiterate at this stage some key principles and positions that must be at the heart of our efforts.

First of all, the Group of 77 and China would like to the process and the outcome of the OWG must be firmly based on the mandate of the Rio+20 outcome document. It should fully respect all the Rio principles, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. This aspect must be captured in the narrative that will accompany the proposal for goals and targets in the report of the OWG.

The mandate of paragraph 247 Rio+20 provides that the SDGs must be global in nature and universally applicable to all countries. To achieve this, international cooperation for the eradication of poverty and inequality between developed and developing countries are critical. It is also important that developed countries take on concrete deliverables under the SDGs and also provide enhanced and measurable financial and technological support to the developing countries under a strengthened global partnership for development.

The Group of 77 and China reiterates that it is important that the SDGs reflect the different national realities, capacities and development priorities of all members of the United Nations, and that they do not place additional restrictions or burdens on the national priorities and development plans of developing countries. In this regard, in fulfilling their SDGs, developing countries should be supported by an enabling international environment, which includes a supportive and just international system where the rules are fair and pro-development, as well as a genuine global partnership to enable developing countries to achieve the SDGs. This should be done through the provision of new and additional financing resources, technology transfer with concessional and preferential terms, capacity building, pro-development trade policies, and effective means of implementation for developing countries.

Co-Chairs,

The Group of 77 and China has taken note of the clustering made by the co-chairs and understands that the objective of the clustering is only to facilitate the discussion on the Sustainable Development Goals. However, we would like to point out that the discussions in the Group on proposed clusters are without prejudice to and should not prejudge the nature and shape of the final goals and targets.

I thank you.