Discorso pronunciato dall’Italia al Dialogo di Alto Livello dell’Assemblea Generale su “Building Sustainable Peace for all: Synergies between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustaining Peace” —
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
When the Security Council took up the maintenance of International peace and security two weeks ago, Italy’s Foreign Minister, Angelino Alfano, indicated three objectives for our collective peace agenda: a comprehensive reform of the peacekeeping and peacebuilding architecture, the effective use of early warning indicators and a new focos on the root causes of instability.
As Minister Alfano stated, the 2030 Agenda offers a unique opportunity to move from vision to action and I welcome today’s discussion on the synergies between the 2030 Agenda and sustaining peace, knowing that Agenda 2030 is the right tool to address the root causes of instability in a coherent and comprehensive manner.
There can be no peaceful society unless it is solidly grounded in the rule of law, economic growth, social equity, and gender equality. Without sustainable production and consumption, no environment can be conducive to the world we, the people, aspire to. A depleted earth cannot sustain the lift from poverty that we want to relieve millions from the scourge of poverty and hunger, and that we need to end unprecedented South-South and South-North migrations.
Let me repeat what we have already stated in the Security Council: we are determined to “build peace for tomorrow.” This is what will drive our global actions, in line with Agenda 2030’s commitment to tackle the root causes of conflict.
In this spirit, we have joined with our partners in the Mediterranean and Africa in a longstanding commitment: Access to Justice, Accountability, Transparency, Due Diligence, and Anti-Corruption drive our action in unison with Countries that have been working with Italy on strengthening institutions. Agriculture, Energy, the Environment, and Infrastructure are the themes of our partnership, and they were tackled by the first Italy-Africa conference held in Rome last year. Food Security is a central theme that we address through traditional support to FAO and WFP and by finding innovative ways to invest in inclusive rural transformation, which is the subject of tomorrow’s conference in Rome with IFAD on smallholder farmers financing and rural SMEs. Access to Water, Sustainable Ocean Management and Climate Change Mitigation are at the core of our endeavors with small islands, from the Caribbean to the Pacific.
Our commitment is global, as the agenda requires, and indivisible, like the planet, in the effort to build resilient societies. These issues, along with many others, are also at the core of the Italian Presidency of the G7.
Mr. President,
More than fifteen years ago the establishment of a Millennium Development Goal to lift millions of people out of poverty started the process toward a sustainable world. Let us not miss the opportunity we have to build on our efforts and use Agenda 2030 for building and sustaining peace. The time has come to move from “vision” to “action”.
