[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Csaba\u00a0K\u0151r\u00f6si<\/em>,<\/em> President of the 77th<\/sup> session of the General Assembly<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n —-<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a013th<\/sup> Session of the Open-Ended Working Group of Ageing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 3 April 2023 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n (As delivered) \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Thank you very much Madame President. Please accept my congratulations on the occasion of your election to this very important position.<\/p>\n Madame Minister,<\/p>\n My good friend USG Lee,<\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\n Thank you very much indeed for this opportunity to be with you this morning and at least partly participating in your discussions.<\/p>\n \u201cAgeing is just another word for living\u201d.<\/p>\n Thanks to medical and technological advances, we can reach an age older than ever before in human history.<\/p>\n Yet, regardless of how many years we have been here, we all deserve to live in health, respect and dignity.<\/p>\n With the life span stretching and the number of older persons rising, our world is visibly ageing and visibly changing.<\/p>\n By 2030, it is projected that the population over 60 will be double the number of children under the age of 5.<\/p>\n This demands our society to tackle new challenges.<\/p>\n For the elderly, these are not abstract issues or theoretical concepts, these are daily realities.<\/p>\n It is very telling how societies deal with their ageing members.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not only a matter of cultural and historic heritage.<\/p>\n It is a powerful indicator about the cohesion of the given community.<\/p>\n Not necessarily about the level of their material affluence, but certainly about the trust and stability of the society.<\/p>\n Economic and social barriers make many older people more exposed to poverty, diseases or ill-treatment \u2013 as we have just heard from the President.<\/p>\n They are often affected first and worst.<\/p>\n Many widows, in particular, continue to face the loss of property rights, discrimination and harmful traditional practices in many countries.<\/p>\n Health-related expenses push over 100 million people into extreme poverty every year.<\/p>\n Data shows that many of the oldest among us, those who desperately need this access, cannot afford to be healthy.<\/p>\n This is an injustice that is massively exacerbated in times of conflicts or human rights crises.<\/p>\n If we have learnt anything from the pandemic, it is that the health of any of us affects the health of all of us. <\/span><\/p>\n And excluding anybody endangers everybody.<\/span><\/p>\n The right to health and access to health services applies to everyone and is an urgent priority for older populations.<\/p>\n Three health-related processes are currently ongoing in the General Assembly.<\/p>\n They can make these rights truly inclusive of us all.<\/p>\n In a world that is growing more digitally connected by the day, we must ensure older persons are not marginalised.<\/p>\n They possess skills, experience and wisdom which make them pillars of our communities.<\/p>\n We should make certain they have the tools to overcome feelings of isolation and depression.<\/p>\n It is not only a moral obligation; it is also in our best interest to utilise the vast knowledge possessed by them. <\/span><\/p>\n An ancient African proverb captures this sentiment: \u201cthose who respect the elderly pave the road towards success\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The 2030 Agenda calls for additional measures to ensure no one is left behind on the road to achieving the SDGs.<\/p>\n Member States can proactively enable older people to advocate for their needs.<\/p>\n In various ways, Member States should consult with the elderly on the issues that affect them, give them the resources to promote their equity, and encourage their participation.\u00a0<\/p>\n We cannot forget that the youth of today are the elders of tomorrow \u2013 and I am so happy to see so many young colleagues in the audience.<\/p>\n Our discussions on future generations should account for the challenges faced by the old.<\/p>\n The SDG Summit in September will be the<\/u> occasion to renew our commitment to combatting ageism and poverty affecting elderly populations.<\/p>\n Dear Friends, Excellencies,<\/p>\n Fulfilling the mandate of this Working Group is critical to meet this goal.<\/p>\n Let me thank you for your efforts to guarantee that older persons are always included when we say \u201chuman rights for all\u201d.<\/p>\n Together, we can turn this ideal into a reality.<\/p>\n Thank you very much.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Csaba\u00a0K\u0151r\u00f6si, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly —- \u00a013th Session of the Open-Ended Working Group of Ageing 3 April 2023 (As delivered) \u00a0 Thank you very much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Csaba\u00a0K\u0151r\u00f6si<\/em>,<\/i>\u00a0President of the 77th<\/sup>\u00a0session of the General Assembly<\/b><\/b><\/p>\r\n ----<\/b><\/b><\/p>\r\n Second informal consultations convened by the co-facilitators on the<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>political declaration to be adopted by the SDG Summit in September 2023<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n 16 March 2023<\/b><\/b><\/p>\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\nExcellencies, esteemed colleagues,\r\n\r\nI thank the co-facilitators, Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani of Qatar and Ambassador Fergal Mythen of Ireland for the invitation.\r\n\r\nFergal, happy St. Patrick\u2019s Day to you!\r\n\r\nDear Alya and Fergal, I am sincerely grateful to you for your work leading this process, and in particular the preparation of the elements paper circulated to MS on 28 February.\r\n\r\nThis paper is a good basis to start the discussion.\r\n\r\nI fully agree with the co-facilitators\u2019 call for the political declaration to be a consensual, concise, ambitious, action-oriented and transformative document.\r\n\r\nI have been particularly pleased by their emphasis on the need to have an ambitious and transformative outcome at the Summit.\r\n\r\nI am sure that, if we want to have such an outcome, we need transformative elements. We have to tell the world why and how the second half of the SDG implementation period will be more impactful and our pledges more credible.\r\n\r\nWe may think of what has been missing from the current implementation and reporting. If you wish, where are the Gamechangers \u2013 that will make our commitments more credible.\r\n\r\nI have in mind key building blocks such as \u201cBeyond GDP\u201d or the creation of the scientific evaluation system of the SDGs\u2019 implementation.\r\n\r\n\u201cBeyond GDP\u201d to measure the real transformation for which we had no real tool until now and Scientific Validation System\u00a0to make the data comparable and validate the aggregated impacts.\r\n\r\nI am very much encouraged by the positive feedback from Member States and various stakeholders on these proposals.\r\n\r\nLikewise, it will be useful and helpful to take into consideration the discussions and commitments that emanated or will, hopefully, emanate from several processes, such as the Transforming Education Summit, COP27, COP 15, the LDC5 Conference, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference, the Sendai Framework Mid-Term Review, the HLPF, and FfD.\r\n\r\nI am sure that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference as well as other upcoming meetings and ongoing processes will result in game-changers that can also find their place in the political declaration of the SDG Summit.\r\n\r\nThe SDG Summit will constitute the mid-point review of the implementation of the 17 Goals.\r\n\r\nMy vision for the SDG Summit is one of a meeting that serves to produce a quality change in our efforts to accelerate implementation at all levels.\r\n\r\nA quantum leap, if you wish.\r\n\r\nAn outcome to turbocharge implementation.\r\n\r\nFor that to happen, we need to go beyond repeating well-known affirmations, set out bold steps and demonstrate leadership at this critical time.\r\n\r\nThe outcome will provide guidance to many international platforms. organisations, including development, banks.\r\n\r\nLadies and gentlemen,\r\n\r\nThe stakes are huge. The real transformation is at stake.\r\n\r\nNot necessarily the relocation of some existing resources, not only, but to recalibrate the system of priorities and use the cooperation channels, national plans and resources accordingly.\r\n\r\nBefore the summit, we have to raise the level of transparency and honesty to review the lessons learnt from the past VNRs and look at where we can unlock new commitments, find new tools, and adopt innovative policies based on scientific inputs.\r\n\r\nI am greatly encouraged by the briefing of the Independent Group of Scientists on GSDR that took place on 7 February as a part of the first GA informal plenary briefing on \u201cScience-based Evidence in Support of the Sustainable Solutions\u201d.\r\n\r\nThe briefing from the IGS gave us a bedrock of scientific knowledge, a basis for unfolding this crucial negotiation process \u2013 and I would very much like to continue in this spirit.\r\n\r\nThat is why the second scientific informal plenary briefing will focus on \u201cBeyond GDP\u201d, \u201cFood Security and Sustainability Transformation\u201d and \u201cA Scientific Support System for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u201d.\r\n\r\nIt will take place on 12 April at 10am in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.\r\n\r\nI invite you all to join us there.\r\n\r\nAs part of my commitment to hear from the civil society and motivate them to bring their contributions to the SDG Summit, I will convene my second Town Hall meeting with CSOs on 20 April at 10am.\r\n\r\nThe focus of this townhall will be on the need for accelerated progress towards the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.\r\n\r\nLet me thank the co-facilitators for kindly agreeing to participate in this Town Hall meeting.\r\n\r\nDear Friends,\r\n\r\nI wish you a fruitful discussion today and count on your support to ensure that we have a truly ambitious outcome.\r\n\r\nAn outcome that really helps us jointly transform the world.\r\n\r\nI thank you.\r\n\r\n\u00a0","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statements","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n