Statement on behalf of the group of LDCs by Bangladesh at the informal consultations convened by the co-facilitators of the consultations aimed at enhancing synergies and coherence and reducing overlap in the agendas of the general assembly, the economic and social council and their subsidiary bodies, as well as the high-level political forum and other related forums in light of the adoption of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (New York, 6 March 2017)

Statement on behalf of the group of LDCs by Bangladesh at the informal consultations convened by the co-facilitators of the consultations aimed at enhancing synergies and coherence and reducing overlap in the agendas of the general assembly, the economic and social council and their subsidiary bodies, as well as the high-level political forum and other related forums in light of the adoption of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

(New York, 6 March 2017)

Mr. President, Distinguished Co-Facilitators,

Excellencies,

I make this statement on behalf of the 48 least developed countries.

We align ourselves with the statement made by Ecuador on behalf of G77.

We thank the distinguished Co-facilitators for their work aimed at enhancing synergies and coherence between the work of the General Assembly as well as the subsidiary bodies aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We underline that that the Economic and Social Council should continue to strengthen its role as the central mechanism for system-wide coordination and thus promote the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences in the economic, social and related fields, in accordance with the Charter and relevant General Assembly resolutions, in particular resolutions 61/16.

The Group also stresses that the Second Committee of the General Assembly should continue its role as a universal norm-setting body on the development issues.

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and other landmark agreements in 2015, the role of the ECOSOC and the Second Committee has increased exponentially. While we concur with the need for synergy, coordination and coherence, we would call for strengthening the follow-up and review arrangements on a multi-layered basis.

In both the GA and ECOSOC, the focus to the countries in special situation needs to be further strengthened. Compared to MDGs and all previous development-related outcomes; the 2030 Agenda, Addis Agenda, Sendai and the Paris Agreement have paid substantially increased attention to the special needs and priorities of LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. However, the GA and ECOSOC activities have not yet translated these realities into their method of works. We are confident that through the current exercise, we would be able to address this issue. These groups of countries warrant more time and detailed analytical works by the GA and ECOSOC in the follow-up processes.

Finally, we would underline that working on the same theme by different entities does not necessarily mean duplication or overlap, rather they are mutually reinforcing. We must keep that in mind in our discussions.

Thank you.