Launching of the National Report on the Post 2015 UN Development
Agenda: “The Future that we want”.
Statement of the Hon. Minister on 16 May 2013, Vaghjee Hall, Port-Louis
Ag. Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Mr. Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen.
 I am very pleased to be with you here today for the launching of the
National Report on the Post 2015 UN Development Agenda “The
Future that We Want”. From the outset, allow me to express my
sincere thanks and gratitude to the dedicated team at my Ministry,
the office of the UN Resident Coordinator and all other stakeholders
for their hard work and commitment in bringing this report to
fruition.
 With the adoption of the Millennium Declaration at the dawn of this
millennium, world leaders made an unprecedented commitment to
create a more equal and just world, recognizing equality and
solidarity as essential elements to international relations in the
twenty-first century.
 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which emerged as
practical and measurable objectives of the Millennium Declaration,
have enjoyed sustained interest and support from governments, the
global development community, civil society and other stakeholders.
 Enormous progress has been made towards achieving the MDGs in
many areas - on aggregate terms, the goal on access to safe drinking
water has been met five years ahead of schedule. The target of cutting
extreme income poverty in half by 2015 was met ahead of time in
2010. Moreover, more children than ever are attending primary
school, the number of child deaths have dropped dramatically and
targeted investments in fighting malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis have
saved the lives of millions.
Ladies and Gentlemen
 The MDGs framework, set to expire at the end of 2015, has indeed
demonstrated the power of global goals and a shared purpose,
bringing nations and people together.
 A milestone in global and national development efforts, the MDGs
are still making a real difference in people’s lives. However, while
these gains must be consolidated, many challenges still remain to be
addressed as the 2015 deadline approaches.

Progress on achieving the goals has been uneven within and across
countries. Some countries and regions still require intensified efforts
to reduce hunger, child and maternal mortality rates, to improve
access to drinking water and sanitation amongst others. The need
therefore, is for a clear Post 2015 Development Agenda through
which, efforts to achieve a world of prosperity, equity, freedom,
dignity and peace will continue unabated.
 The initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the
establishment of a UN System Task Team to coordinate preparations
together with governments, civil society and other partners, so as to
build on the momentum generated by the MDGs and carry on with
the
ambitious
Post-2015
Development
Agenda,
is
indeed
commendable.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
 It is indeed a matter of pride that as the new Post-2015 framework is
being developed, Mauritius was one of the sixty-two countries in the
world to have been selected to hold national consultations.
 The Government together with development partners, the UNDP,
Civil Society Organizations, private sector, the youth, the elderly and
other stakeholders, engaged in an inclusive consultative process, that
provided a platform for the fostering of deeper interactions on how
the international community should view a Post 2015 Agenda.
 Through this process, stakeholders had a golden opportunity to take
stock on our MDG achievements, shortcomings and reflect on new
challenges as well as identify new goals. The outcome is the National
Report on the Post 2015 UN Development Agenda that we are about
to launch today; - A report that mirrors the aspirations of the
Mauritian society at large.
 I shall now dwell on some of the key recommendations of the
National Report which will be fed into the report of the UN HighLevel Panel constituted by the UN Secretary General for the Post 2015
Roadmap.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Our recommendations revolved around three main axes:
(i)
Firstly, the need to restructure the current MDGS;
(ii)
Secondly, the adoption of new goals for a Post-2015 UN
Development Agenda; and
(iii)
Thirdly, the coherence of the process with other existing initiatives
 Mauritius strongly believes that poverty eradication should remain a
central objective of a Post-2015 UN Development Framework. We
believe this should however be re-formulated to include the notion of
food security namely access to affordable, safe and nutritious food.
 Moreover, the goal oriented structure as found in the current
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should be maintained.
These goals can however be re-structured. For example, Goal 2 on
Achieving Universal Primary Education, could be reframed to
“Achieving universal Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary Education of
quality” while MDGs 4, 5 and 6 could be clustered into one goal
entitled ‘Universal Health Coverage’ which would provide a multisectoral approach to reduce the health inequities.
 It is felt that a Post-2015 UN Development Framework should build
upon and improve the current MDGs, through greater emphasis on
issues such as education, human rights, economic growth, decent
work, job creation, inequality, climate change and changing
population dynamics.
 We also believe that SIDS like Mauritius should be given sufficient
and special attention, particularly towards bolstering our resilience,
risk mitigation and adaptation measures.
 On the issue of new goals for the Post-2015 UN Development
Agenda, the Consultation processes also identified new goals,
namely:
(i)
Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth;
(ii)
Building Resilience for Vulnerable Countries (SIDS,
LDCs, African countries);
(iii) Addressing issues related to population dynamics,
especially the ageing population;
(iv)
Consolidating Good Governance; and
(v)
Consolidating Universal Human Rights
 In addition to the above, we believe that there is need to ensure better
coherence between the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda and
other UN processes. In this context, the outcome of the Post-2015 UN
Development Agenda needs convergence with the Rio +20 process
and the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover,
there is a need to integrate, within the new Post-2015 UN
Development Framework, the issues identified in the Mauritius
Strategy for the further implementation of the Barbados Programme
of Action. Provision should also be made for integration of the
outcomes of the forthcoming SIDS meeting in 2014, in the Post-2015
UN Development Framework. As each UN process and convention
has its own reporting system, it is important to simplify such
processes and maintain a system-wide coherence in the Post-2015 UN
Development Framework.
 In a nutshell therefore, the Post-2015 UN Development Framework
will only be successful if it emerges as a nationally driven, open,
participatory, transparent, inclusive, and bottom-up process which
continues to strengthen partnerships and engagements between
Governments’, Private Sector, Civil Society Organisations, women,
the disabled, the elderly, vulnerable groups and in particular, the
youth; so that their voices can be heard and they become “agents of
change” on all fronts. It is equally important to develop the right
synergies between regional organisations, such as the African Union,
and sub-regional organisations: SADC, COMESA, EAC, IOR-ARC,
and IOC, to be actively involved in the Process. The integration of
issues identified in the NEPAD Process, in particular, the African
Peer Review Mechanism with the Goals that would constitute the
Post-2015 UN Development Framework is also of essence.
Ladies and Gentlemen
 I commend once again all those involved in producing this National
Report for the new Post-2015 UN Development Framework; a
Framework which we hope will further contribute to equitable
human development and to an improved “Future that we want”.
Thank You