Timor-Leste working to achieve SDGs and encourage global implementation
Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Dili, April 24th, 2016
Timor-Leste working to achieve SDGs and encourage global implementation
Last week in New York Timor-Leste made important contributions to the United Nations High Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and on Friday, International Mother Earth Day, signed the historic Paris Climate Agreement.
Speaking at the Thematic Debate on behalf of Prime Minister H.E. Dr. Rui Maria de Araújo, the Minister of Commerce Industry and Environment, H.E. Constâncio da Conceição Pinto, expressed Timor-Leste’s full endorsement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Minister Pinto noted that Timor-Leste was a proud member of the High Level Support Group for SDG implementation and said “Our pledge towards implementation has spurred our national actions.”
When National Parliament adopted the SDGs in September last year the Government promptly moved to establish a national level SDG Working Group comprised of all Government agencies and directorates and representing all line ministries. This group is working on the SDG implementation strategy of Timor-Leste, aligning the SDGs with the Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030 and developing a national SDG monitoring tool. Minister Pinto explained that in the process of developing monitoring the Government had “engaged actively with the g7+ group of fragile, conflict and post-conflict states to prioritize indicators covering all 17 goals.”
While working at the national level to achieve the SDGs Timor-Leste has continued to advocate for global implementation and was able to contribute last week through the High Level Support Group for SDG implementation and as a member of the Association of Small Island States. Prime Minister Araújo joined the eight other world leaders of the High-Level Group in issuing a statement explaining the commitment of the group to “lead by example and do our part” and to “encourage all other leaders to join us in this commitment to leave no one behind.”
A statement of the Association of Small Island States was also presented at the Thematic Debate which pointed to the importance of the Friday signing of the Paris Climate Agreement as a key step in moving towards achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 13 on Climate Action. Members of the Association, including Timor-Leste, are amongst those states most challenged by the impacts of climate change.
On Friday Timor-Leste was one of 175 United Nations member States to sign the Paris Climate agreement which sets the goals of limiting global warming to below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels by significantly reducing greenhouse emissions. Timor-Leste will now move to ratify the agreement in National Parliament.
Spokesperson for the Sixth Constitutional Government, Minister of State Agio Pereira noted “Timor-Leste was involved in the development of the Sustainable Development Goals and now seeks to lead by example in their implementation. This means continuing to work hard on programs that improve the quality of life of our people and building for the long-term future of our nation. It also entails good planning and accurate monitoring of the results of our efforts. We commend the Working Group for their work on SDG planning and monitoring. Last week Timor-Leste stood proudly as both a champion of the SDGs and as a signatory to the historic Paris Agreement on Climate showing our determination to work towards a better future for our nation, and indeed for mother earth.”
