Ms. Irena Vojackova Sollorano, the UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia

Speech on the occasion of the 70 anniversary of the United Nations

22 October 2015, Palace of Serbia

Thank you DPM Dacic. Thank you RSG Miculescu. Your Excellences, Ladies and Gentleman. ON behalf of the United Nations Country team in Serbia let me welcome you once again on the occasion of the UN70 celebration.

It was a great pleasure working with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institute for International Politics and Economy and United Nations Office in Belgrade in organizing this event.

The exhibition that you will get chance to see today presents, from different angles, the first 70 years of the United Nations work relevant for Serbia. Its title – Lessons from the Past, Vision to the Future - promises anoverview of the past achievements and a piece of the vision for the future. I will focus on the latter in my brief address today.

The future of the United Nations development work in Serbia will be inspired by the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the accompanying set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were adopted at the UN Summit in late September 2015.

I would like to use this opportunity to praise once again the contribution that Serbian Government did during 2013-2015 in the process of Sustainable Development Agenda formulation. Through intergovernmental deliberations, series of meetings at global level, and in particular through the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on SDGs, Serbian diplomats conveyed diligently their views and messages that are now reflected in global development agenda.

Voice to the sustainable goals formulation in 2013 and 2014 gave also thousands of people from Serbia through the campaign Serbia We Want. They joined the group of 1 million voices through the global forum the World We Want and ensured that that the new development agenda is people centered and reflective of common people’s needs.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its coreofficially comes into effect upon expiry of the Millennium Development Goals on 1 January 2016 and will run through2030. The Agenda will apply to all countries and will have 17 goals and 169 targets.It strives for a world that is rights-based, equitable and inclusive. It commits stakeholders to work together to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection and to benefit all, including women, children, youth and future generations. This new universal agenda will require an integrated approach to sustainable development and collective action, at all levels, to address the challenges of our time, with an overarching imperative of ‘leaving no one behind’ and addressing inequalities and discrimination as the central defining feature. Each government will be setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances

Some national governments have already started to translate the new agenda into their development plans, strategies and visions. Serbia is one of them. As the Deputy Prime Minister already informed, Government of Serbia will soon have an inter-ministerial working group tasked to take full responsibility of the nationalization and implementation of SDGs. In its work, the group will rely on the results of the MDG achievement, as outlined in the Final MDG Report for Serbia. It will also take into consideration the existing national development policies, EU integration priorities and global conventions that Serbia is committed to implement.

Let me conclude by reaffirming the commitment of the United Nations Country team in Serbia to support Government of Serbia in its efforts to implement SDGs. Government of Serbia and UNCT Development Partnership Framework for 2016-2020 is fully aligned with the new SDG agenda. It will seek to promote also the creation of new partnerships for development in Serbia that will bring together Government, regional and local authorities, parliament, civil society, the private sector, international community, academia and volunteer groups.

We appreciate very much the support of the Serbian government and the personal commitment of Deputy PM Dacic, which have made it possible for all of the UN agencies in Serbia to finally move into one joint building, which is currently being renovated. Moreover, we hope that we might be able to welcome back to Serbia the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon some time next spring for the official opening of our new UN House in Serbia.