Defining the post-2015
strategy for development is among the most important
long-term multilateral agendas existing today. The task
is complex, but the mission — to make our common
development sustainable — should be clear. It is not just
a synonym for the protection of the environment. The
mission is to make sure that our societies, economies,
environment and partnerships will serve us all and
serve the generations to come.
By 2030, our population will be 9 billion people,
65 per cent of whom will live in cities, forming
consumer societies with ever-growing demands but
using the same or a declining pool of natural resources.
Civil societies and other non-governmental players have
more influence than ever on our values and decisions.
We are racing against climate change. Our perceptions
of progress, equity, inequality, affluence and resource
management are changing as we speak. The post-2015
development agenda has to reflect these changes.
As we face a turning point in our history and the
state of the Earth, it is only with a fundamental shift in
mindset that humanity will succeed in a transition to
global sustainable development. We have to accelerate
progress towards the goals set out in the Millennium
Development Goals. However, we know that by 2015
we may not be able to meet all the targets we set in
2000. Therefore, the next important step is to create
a single agenda through which we will complete the
unfinished business and make sure that the results
will last even in the light of the tremendous challenges
facing humankind.
We should aim at eradicating extreme poverty
in a single generation. The transformation to
sustainable development is costly; however, it would be
incomparably more costly to miss the chance. We should
learn from past mistakes and find better alternatives.
We all need economic growth. We all need justice,
respect for human rights, gender equality, dignity, good
governance and successfully implemented national
development plans. We all deserve to live free of want
and from fear of devastating conflicts. Our objective
should be not a zero-sum game but a win-win outcome.
We all share the consequences; therefore we should be
aware of our common responsibility as well.
The decisions we make today will also need to be
relevant in 15 years. When our successors look back
in 2030 on the agenda we are about to decide on, they
should acknowledge the purpose, priorities and targets
jointly set. They should be convinced that our action
had the right impact and made this world a better place.
I thank the Member States for the confidence they
have shown in Hungary by entrusting us to co-chair
the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development
Goals. We will do our best to achieve a consensual,
forward-looking, win-win formula as the outcome of
the negotiating process.
Hungary attaches the utmost importance to the
issue of water and sanitation. We believe that it needs
to be addressed in an integrated way to achieve a
human rights-based social development prosperity and
ecological balance. Water is a source of life, health,
prosperity and a shared future, but it can also be a
source of risk.
In order to take stock of the various international
developments in the field of water, Hungary has
decided to organize the Budapest Water Summit, to
be held in our capital from 8 to 11 October. Hungary
is a downstream country with about 95 per cent of all
fluvial waters originating beyond our State borders. We
have accumulated precious know-how in flood control,
drinking water, wastewater treatment and irrigation,
just to list a few. The Summit will be accompanied by
a science forum, a youth forum, a civil society forum,
a business leaders’ forum and Expo, and a philanthropy
round table. We look forward to welcoming Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations agencies
active in the field of water, as well as other international
and national leaders to the conference. More than 100
countries and international institutions have confirmed
they will be represented in Budapest. The Summit
will adopt the Budapest Statement, and we hope that
it will, as a synthesis document, greatly contribute to
and facilitate the discussions and negotiations on the
sustainable development goals.
The appalling situations in various parts of the
world leave no doubt as to the interdependence and
mutually reinforcing nature of democracy, peace and
security, development and human rights. A cross-policy
approach that takes account of those interrelationships
should be integrated into the work of the various bodies
and forums of the United Nations.
Hungary welcomes the measures that the United
Nations system is introducing to mainstream human
rights. Likewise, it encourages national initiatives
and contributions to the protection of human rights.
Hungary remains dedicated to the promotion of human
rights and fundamental freedoms. It was in this spirit
that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
established the annual Budapest Human Rights Forum,
intended to apply an interrelated philosophy to address
current human rights challenges. The next Forum is
due to take place in November and will be dedicated,
among other things, to the relationship between human
rights and sustainable development.
Hungary is committed to disarmament and
non-proliferation efforts, which are fundamental for
maintaining global peace and security. We urge all
countries to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention.
We also support the establishment of a zone free of
weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, as
foreseen by the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties
to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons.
My country was greatly honoured to chair the
International Atomic Energy Agency’s International
Conference on Nuclear Security in July and sincerely
hopes that the results of that Conference will contribute
to a safer world.
On the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT), I am confident that its entry into force will
greatly strengthen global peace and security. Only
a treaty in force will confine the chapter on nuclear
testing to the history books. We therefore need to
further intensify our respective efforts. I and my
fellow article XIV Coordinator Mr. Marty Natalegawa,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, will make an
attempt to bring us closer to that goal. I look forward
to our co-coordinatorship of the CTBT for the period
2013-2015 with a view to accelerating the ratification
process.
The use of chemical weapons in Syria was a
crime against humanity. The international community
has finally embarked on action to ensure that similar
attacks will never be repeated. We urge that the
perpetrators of all war crimes be brought to justice.
Without justice there is no reconciliation. Without a
chance for reconciliation, there is no lasting settlement.
We welcome the United States-Russia agreement on
the framework for the elimination of Syrian chemical
weapons as well as the consequent resolutions adopted
by the Executive Council of the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the Security
Council. We look forward to a timely, transparent and
full-scale implementation under the watchful eyes of
the international community.
Hungary is ready to provide chemical and biological
experts on the ground to facilitate those international
efforts. We urge the Syrian authorities to take full
responsibility to ensure that their chemical weapons are
stored securely until inspection and destruction, and do
not fall into the hands of any other State or non-State
actor. Syria should live up to its commitments, including
by providing full access to the international inspectors.
We hope that these developments will bring us
closer to a lasting and sustainable political solution,
which should remain the backbone of our efforts in
the Syrian crisis. Well over 100,000 lives have already
been lost and 5 million people displaced in this conflict.
Most regrettably, it was only after a terrible chemical
attack last August that the Security Council became
ready to fulfil its duties and embarked on action. I urge
all partners in the international community to seize
this momentum and reinvigorate the process leading
to the long-overdue “Geneva II” international peace
conference on Syria.
Last, but not least, my country is shocked by and
strongly condemns the surging terrorist attacks against
civilians at the Westgate Mall in Kenya, students in
Nigeria, and Christian, Muslim and other communities
in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Our
solidarity and sympathy go to the innocent victims.