ECOSOC Informal Meeting with the Members of the Independent Team of Advisors to support the second phase of the ECOSOC Dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 
Intervention by Mr. Amit Narang, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations on February 25, 2016
 

Thank you Mr. President.
 

Let me start by thanking the members of the ITA for being with us today. We are extremely impressed with the credentials and the distinguished backgrounds that the team members bring with them and we have no doubt that the team will add great value to the discussions in the Dialogue going forward.  
 

I realize that this opportunity may not come to us very often and therefore I will try and share some preliminary thoughts on some of the issues that the team will be discussing in the coming weeks and months. We do realize, and we are pleased that the team is independent but I am sure that the team members will benefit from such interactions with member states from time to time.

My first point is indeed to congratulate the team!
 

As some of my colleagues have said, this is probably the first time, the first group of people to actually try and interpret the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in what it means on the ground.  We have done the norm setting and as we get to the implementation of the agenda, this is the first time that the team will examine what the agenda means on the ground and how the system will endeavor to translate it into action. 
 

So clearly a lot riding on your shoulders and we wish you all the best. Our expectation, our hope is that you will bring ideas on the table. We hope that you will be ambitious as well as practicable.  We hope that you will be bold while at the same time be relevant to Member States and we hope that you will be both wide-ranging but also focused in your recommendations. 
 

Our expectation is that you will give us options even in cases where the team members may not agree with each other.  Even in those cases, it is important that you place ideas and options on the table to enable better decision making.  We are in the supermarket of ideas here in the UN and I think it is very important you give us a dossier which enables us to pick and choose, depending upon the political agreement on what is possible. 
 

What follows is by way of sharing some very initial ideas from our side, in addition of course to what was said by my colleague from the Group of 77.
 

First of all, it is important to understand from our perspective that the idea here is to adapt the system to the agenda not vice versa. The agenda is a very finely balanced piece of document. It is very important that there is no reinterpretation or selectivity in implementation.
 
Secondly, the team will have to spend some time in unpacking several of the ideas which we speak about often in the UN. I always get this trepidation that even when we speak about them ad infinitum, we probably do not always know what we are talking about. 
 

As the co-chair Mr. Topfer asked: what is the practical implementation of being universal? This has not been teased out. 
 

What does it mean when we say that the agenda is integrated? Does it mean that everybody will do everything or does it mean that some selective ideas will be mainstreamed across the agenda?  
 

It is important to tease out these ideas - integration versus domain competence, and division of labour. 
 

What exactly does it mean when we say 'fit for purpose'? 
 

What is the meaning of 'fit'? Does 'fit' mean 'lean' as it mostly means when we talk about individuals or does 'fit' more or bigger? 
 

Thirdly, national leadership.  I think it is clear to everybody that the agenda will not be implemented by the UN system. The agenda will be implemented by national governments. The task of the UN system is to assist that process. It is about the UN system helping governments implement. It is important to keep this is mind while trying to frame the question of what the UN has to offer.
 

Fourthly, we hope you will examine issues such as funding and governance structures. My colleague from Iraq just mentioned about the issues of funding including the distinction between core and non-core resources. 
 

Can you actually implement an integrated agenda when you have funding structures that prioritize selective donor priorities? 
 

Can you implement a universal agenda with skewed or imbalanced governance structures? What is the meaning of universality when it comes to governance? These are important questions. 
 

Fifth, we have heard often of this so-called humanitarian-development divide. Actually, I am not sure there is a divide. I think it is more of a continuum. Development is the first step because development creates conditions which reduce the chances of humanitarian crises. So perhaps is not helpful to see it as a divide. We are also slightly cautious about this idea of bridging this divide and the approach of putting them into one pool. In our view, this was expressed well by the Vice President when he said that 'The idea is investing in development to avoid conflict and crises'.  It is very important that the UN system does not take its eyes off the ball. The UN Development System must not lose focus from its core mandate which is to promote long-term growth and development in developing countries. 
 

Sixth, on the issue of development cooperation we hope that you will see the issue of South-South Cooperation in the proper perspective. And what do I mean by that? That you will hopefully try to resist the temptation of 'fixing what is not broken'. Aid is declining but South-South Cooperation is continuously increasing. It is flowering. So clearly we have to resist the temptation of tying it down in artificial boundaries or notions. And on the other hand, it is important to see how we can enable the UN system to support South-South Cooperation in their effort. 

And finally, of course nothing should detract us from the overriding priority of ending poverty. That is the vision we have got from our Leaders in this Agenda. We have to achieve that by 2030 and it is very important that we keep our focus on the overriding priority of ending poverty.

Let me conclude by once again congratulating members of the team. We look forward to interacting with you very closely, in both formal and informal settings. You will find the Member States very open to your ideas. 

Thank you very much