MONGOLIA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING ITS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS BY 2015

February 13 (InfoMongolia) The Fifty-First Session of the Commission for Social Development has convened at the United Nations North Lawn Building (NLB) in New York, US on February 12, 2013.

The priority theme this year is "Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all".

Representing Mongolia, Director of the Department of International Organization affiliated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia,Narkhuu TULGA has delivered a speech to reaffirm Mongolian Government’s policy on Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The 51st Session of the Commission for Social Development

February 12, 2013

New York

Madam Chair,

First of all, I wish to express my delegation’s high appreciation to the Secretary-General for the thought-provoking report exploring the linkages between empowerment and poverty eradication, full employment and decent work for all, and social integration, in addition to sustainable development.

I wish to reaffirm my Government’s strong commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

According to the Fourth National MDG Report of Mongolia, 77.9 percent of them have already been achieved or are likely to be achieved by 2015. Despite the progress made so far, some MDGs targets including those on poverty and environmental sustainability are progressing slowly and require targeted interventions to achieve them.

Madam Chair,

It has become increasingly evident that promoting empowerment of people, enhancing their economic participation and empowerment constitute an integral part of the national development agenda. It is also one of the cross-cutting issues and it requires a cross-sectorial coordination. Empowerment is interconnected with the three core goals that world leaders at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen committed to achieving: poverty eradication, social integration and full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Due to the world economic and financial crises, the rate of poverty reduction is slow. According to the SG's report, while poverty has been substantially reduced in some countries, it remains widespread in other parts of the world, namely in sub-Saharan Africa and in Southern Asia. Due to the recent slowdown in growth, the world economy is likely to create only half of the 80 million jobs needed over the next 2 years to reach the pre-crisis employment rates. Job creation is one of the priorities of the Government of Mongolia. As a result of sound policy measures, including a major legislature reform, improvement of job registration and services, as well as targeted allocation of soft loans to small and medium businesses, some 73 thousand jobs were created and the rate of unemployment decreased by 37.4 percent in 2012.

Madam Chair,

Mongolia highly appreciates the contribution of cooperatives in social and economic development. As we all know that cooperatives based on full member participation, serves as an important tool for the creation of decent employment as well as poverty reduction and social integration. One of the objectives of the International Year of Cooperatives (2012) was to support the exchange of best practices on how to achieve this empowerment. Today in Mongolia there are some 2,400 cooperatives operating in many areas of national importance. These include fields such as: the processing of raw materials; savings and credit; sales, supply and procurement; services; and housing construction. So as part of its International Year of Cooperatives activities, in order to further assist rural areas, the Government of Mongolia inaugurated a three-year “Campaign to promote the rural cooperative movement.”

Madam Chair,

I wish to reaffirm Mongolia's commitment to promote social integration by fostering societies that are stable, safe and just and that are based on the promotion and protection of all human rights, as well as non-discrimination, tolerance, respect for diversity, equality of opportunity, solidarity, security, and participation of all people, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and persons. In order to provide basic social protection floor for all, we are taking measures aimed at targeting social welfare support and assistance to vulnerable groups.

We also support the recommendation of the SG report that strategies to empower women, youth, persons with disabilities, the elderly and other marginalized groups should be treated as a matter of urgency by, inter alia, addressing their basic needs and concerns in the mainstream development agenda, in particular in the areas of full employment and decent work, equality, agriculture and infrastructure development, and financial inclusion, including access to microcredit.

We wish to encourage Member States to fully implement the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002, the World Programme of Action for Youth, the Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities, which all advocate social empowerment through the removal of social, political, legal and economic barriers and the active participation of marginalized social groups in society.

Madam Chair,

In 2012, world leaders agreed to renew their commitment to sustainable development, and to ensure the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future. We could build our future with inclusive and transparent society. In this regard, we need to accelerate our efforts to implement the Millennium Development Goals and internationally agreed development goals. We, Member States and UN system are looking forward to formulating new goals in the post 2015 development agenda. Social issues, in particular promotion of empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment should be included in this new development agenda.

Thank you.

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