UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Turkey Model UN Turkey Conference: Determining a post-2015 Development Agenda with evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals focusing on the coherence, legacy and reform and effectiveness of the specialized agencies Keynote Remarks by Kamal Malhotra United Nations Resident Coordinator, Turkey 3 March 2015 Antalya, Turkey
Dear Model UN Delegates, It is my great pleasure to be at this Model UN Turkey Conference to speak at this UNDG Session. I have been asked to reflect on the Post-2015 Development Agenda while evaluating the Millennium Development Goals, especially focusing on the coherence and effectiveness of the specialized agencies. I would like to focus on the situation of Turkey today since that is where we are and where my most recent experience has been. Turkey is also in some ways a good case to discuss because it regards itself as a major regional and increasingly global player as well as a near BRICS emerging economic power house. Indeed, Turkey has a unique geo-strategic location, is now clearly an upper middle income country and an increasingly important world economy and development cooperation partner in Africa, Central Asia and many Muslim majority countries. It is also the world s third largest humanitarian donor, tragically, largely because of the Syrian and now resurgent Iraqi crises. Turkey is also a country which has made remarkable progress on many of the Millennium Development Goals, but it is also a country which has major remaining challenges as I articulated at the launch in Turkey of the flagship annual UNDP Human Development Report last year in which the country ranks 69th out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index. Let me now go back a few years. In 2010, when Turkey looked over its shoulder to see what it has achieved in the previous 10 years since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it was clear that in many respects, Turkey was well on her way to reaching the MDG targets. Turkey had achieved significant 1
progress in maternal and infant health during this period, registering sharp and impressive reductions in its infant, under-five and maternal mortality rates. Another area that Turkey showed significant progress in interestingly was in MDG 8, since it had increased its Official Development Assistance considerably and has even done more in this respect since 2010. Yet structural inequalities, especially those related to geographical and social as well as gender disparities, remained a deep rooted challenge in 2010 and this has not changed since. In terms of the MDGs, special attention needed to be paid to MDG 3 and MDG 7, the two areas where Turkey seemed to encounter serious difficulties. This has, unfortunately, not changed much by 2015. In the first quarter of 2015, it is both clear that many of Turkey s development challenges remain and some have, perhaps, unfortunately even intensified (eg. democratic governance and human rights) while new major challenges have emerged (eg. migration and international protection) which pose serious threats to the recent developmental gains of the country and require urgent attention. MDG achievement in some areas will also remain an unfinished agenda by the end of 2015 since while Turkey will have achieved Millennium Development Goals 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and certainly 8 by then, it is unlikely to achieve MDGs 3 and 7. Meanwhile, socioeconomic, regional, rural-urban and many gender disparities remain very worrying. There are also disparities in education and health outcomes and the quality of education leaves a lot to be desired and in the view of many experts has even deteriorated even as the focus on quantity has increased. There is also a need for more decent jobs and for continued investment in the younger generation, with youth unemployment at close to 20%. Full participation of all 2
groups in economic, cultural and social life and protection from violence also remain major challenges. Dear Delegates, The United Nations Development Group (UNDG), as you know devised, an innovative methodology for identifying global development challenges beyond 2015, involving people from all over the world. The process was designed to facilitate consultations amongst multiple stakeholders in order to understand their expectations and dreams for the world beyond 2015 when the timeline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expires. Within the Post-2015 Development Agenda process there were two formally unconnected but clearly linked processes: a) the SG s High Level Panel (which delivered its report on May 30, 2013) and b) the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which has been the inter-governmental process following Rio+20. The OWG presented a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 indicators to the General Assembly at its 68 th session. These SDGs will be approved by UN member states, hopefully, by September 2015. 15 of these 17 proposed SDGs (with the exception of the first two) remain relevant to Turkey s development challenges even as an upper middle income country, albeit to differing but significant degrees, depending on the goal. Turkey s National Development Plan for the period 2014-2018 also identified and seeks to address these challenges, again to somewhat differing degrees. Dear Delegates, 3
With regard to the coherence and effectiveness of the UN specialized agencies, I should emphasize that last year, for the first time, all members of the UN Development Group (UNDG) agreed on a common way of doing business so we can work together most efficiently and deliver even better results to countries. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), requested by UN member states, endorsed by the UN Secretary-General and signed off on by 18 heads of agencies, including all specialized agency members of the UNDG, represent a groundbreaking initiative in the evolution of UN collaboration and are the foundation of the second generation of Delivering as One. As such, they will be a key enabler of our shared work as UN teams at the country and regional levels. They also send a powerful message that the UN development system is resolute in its commitment to Deliver as One in support of sustainable development. The timing of this is important in light of the post-2015 agenda, with its broader ambitions and goals to enable a better world. And given the increasingly complex challenges that surround us, the SOPs should help us organize ourselves better on the inside to be more productive and relevant to those we engage with on the outside. Many organizations have come together to drive the design and implementation of the SOPs, demonstrating their dedication to making the UN fit for purpose to implement the post-2015 Development Agenda once it is agreed hopefully at the Summit being convened by the UN Secretary-General in September 2015 in New York. Intended to boost UN collaboration, the SOPs build on the combined strengths and capacities of the UN system, sharpen the focus on high-impact results, and deepen transparency and accountability. They are readily adaptable to different country contexts. Grounded in proven successes in country offices, the SOPs cover the One Programme, the Common Budgetary Framework, the One Leader and UN 4
Team Leadership, Operating as One and Communicating as One. They will be progressively applied in all existing Delivering as One (DaO) countries, and can be applied by all other countries such as Turkey, as appropriate in their particular circumstances. As the UN Resident Coordinator, I am starting a process of discussing their applicability to Turkey in 10 days time! I have spoken long enough but hope the discussion you will have today will be stimulating and inspiring, allowing us to take more determined steps towards delivering together in a Post-2015 world and achieving the future we want in the firm belief that the post 2015 Development Agenda and the SDGs, as well as the UNs normative mandate and agenda, both remain very relevant for all of us! Thank you! 5