Your Excellency President of ECOSOC,
Under-Secretary-General of DESA,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen

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

At the outset, the Group thanks the President and Secretariat of the Economic and Social Council for the preparation of this year's High-Level Political Forum, which has thus far been a tremendous success.

The G77 and China extends its sincerest appreciation to Ambassador Inga Rhonda King, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Ambassador Jakub Kulhánek, Permanent Representative of Czechia as Co-facilitators of the intergovernmental consultations and their respective team for their exceptional steering of the informal consultations. We particularly commend the Co-facilitators for upholding the intergovernmental nature of the informal consultations by continuing the practice of line-by-line negotiations in a transparent, open and inclusive manner, which resulted in the carefully balanced document we have before us today that I think has made us all equally happy and unhappy in different parts.

Mr. President,

The Group, being aware of the tight timeline to 2030 and the fact that most of the implementation of the SDGs are either off track or regressing, engaged constructively and in good faith throughout the negotiations with the sole objective to have a document that not only highlighted challenges but provided some direction for addressing them, particularly through means of implementation.

The Group decided to support the Ministerial Declaration under consideration, even though we believe many aspects could have been strengthened noting the many crises and challenges facing the Global South, which are having tremendous negative impacts to their efforts for sustainable development. We were disappointed by the attempts by some delegations to rewrite and weaken recently agreed commitments from the Compromiso de Seville, as well as the constant attempts to backtrack from principles contained within the 2030 Agenda, such as the principle of CBDR.

Mr. President,

The Group of 77 and China is disappointed that this year's Ministerial Declaration could not be adopted by consensus, and notes with great concern that several of the areas being objected to are very much a part of our commitments and obligations enshrined in the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, which we all agreed upon and adopted in 2015, in an effort to leave no one behind.

In particular, the G77 and China expresses its disappointment that a vote has been called on paragraph 14, which undermines the commitment made by all our leaders in 2015 and increasingly threatens our collective commitment to achieve the 2030 Agenda. In this regard, the G77 and China urges all delegations to vote in favor of the retention of paragraph 14 and the whole Ministerial Declaration incase votes are requested. Despite this vote, the G77 and China wish to state that this verbatim language from the 2030 Agenda remains agreed and any attempts to change this shall not be accepted.

Mr. President,

The Group wishes to reiterate the main objective of the HLPF is to review and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, and with five more years to the realization of this sustainable development agenda, we need more than ever to start addressing the difficult matters, which are hindering progress in attaining the ambitious goals contained in the Agenda and its SDGs. These include the unilateral coercive measures, the right to development, the right to self-determination of peoples living under colonial and foreign occupation, the need to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of States and the urgency to close the alarming financing gap and to provide the necessary means of implementation to developing countries on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

The HLPF, is not a forum to rewrite and rescript the 2030 Agenda nor its SDGs. It is a time for us to reflect on what is working and what is not working and how we can facilitate countries in their implementation of the SDGs and the Agenda as a whole.

Mr. President,

The countries of the Global South want an equal, fair and unhindered path to their sustainable development. We want to be a respected participant in the decision-making bodies. We need urgent and ambitious actions for the remaining 5 years. Let us commit to start today.

I thank you.