Hungary, 2013

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.