Statement
by
H.E. Mrs. Mirjana Mladineo, Ambassador
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the UN
General Assembly Sixty-First Session
General Debate
3 October 2006
Madam Chairperson,
Allow me to join others before me, in extending the congratulations of my delegation to you and other members of the bureau upon election and to assure you of the support of our delegation in the work of the Second Committee.
Croatia has aligned itself with the statement of the European Union, so I will restrict myself to the priorities of my delegation.
Madam Chairperson,
This Committee has a responsibility to continue making concerted efforts to ensure the timely and full realization of the development goals and objectives agreed at the major United Nations conferences and summits, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In this regard, listening to Under Secretary-General Ocampo's comprehensive overview of the economic situation in the world, it is clear that we live in a world of extraordinary inequalities in opportunity, both within and across countries.
Therefore, one of the priority areas for my delegation is financing for development. We,as a middle-income country in transition, have achieved progress and are ready to share our experience. Important lessons learned in this process is a need for clear country ownership in order to achieve the MDGs. Mobilization of all domestic resources and close cooperation and coherence of policies among development partners are needed. It is also necessary to mobilize women in development and to allow them equal access to financial resources. Transparency and financial management need to be enhanced in the government and the broader public sector, thus accelerating key structural reforms including judicial, health and public administration reforms.
We welcome the increased resources that have become available for official development assistance. At the same time it is necessary to look at innovative sources of financing. They can provide additional, stable and predictable flows complementary to the ODA. We are also aware of the necessity of the quality and effectiveness of aid. In this regard we support the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
Let me also take this opportunity to support improving the processes and capacities at the country level in order to strengthen the voice of developing countries and transitional economies. Further capacity building in transitional countries, like Croatia, is important to support our active engagement in the international development arena. We need to have an active participation as owners, not only borrowers in Bretton Woods Institutions. In this regard, we will be fully engaged to get a forward-looking resolution on including countries with economies in transition into the world economy as we did in 2004.
Sustainable development has been reconfirmed as a central element of the international agenda as an impetus to global action to fight poverty and protect the environment. To this end, integrating all three pillars of sustainable development in the overall development strategy should be encouraged.
We have important session of the 15th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in front of us. We are looking forward to provide input during that agenda item in order to get an integrated insight into the issues and inter-linkages of energy for development, industrial development, climate change and air pollution/atmosphere.
Strengthening sustainable management and development of all types of forests is also one of our priorities. In this regard, we will propose a resolution, as recommended at the substantive session of ECOSOC, to have 2011 proclaimed an International Year of Forests in order to draw more attention to these important issues.
We will also continue working on a worldwide early warning system for all natural hazards. Here, we especially recognize the vulnerabilities of the small island developing states (SIDS). We, therefore, stand ready to continue contributing to the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for SIDS.
Croatia, due to its rapid growth of urban areas is very interested in the strengthening the UN Human Settlements Programme - UN-HABITAT and the continued implementation of the outcome of the UN Habitat II.
Fighting corruption is one of Croatia's priorities. Croatia has signed and ratified the UN Convention against Corruption. Through its Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime, Croatia is fighting corruption through prevention, prosecution and suppression of both criminal offences committed by organized criminal groups and criminal offences of corruption. Therefore, we will be fully engaged in getting a good resolution on this issue.
High-level dialogue on international migration and development has provided us a framework for our discussions. We are only starting to learn how to maximize the benefits while minimising the negative effects of migration in development terms. We are therefore, looking forward to upcoming discussions on this issue.
Madam Chairperson,
Let me conclude by reminding us of the General Assembly resolution 57/270 B which we should bear in mind when continuing the work of the previous bureaux of reexamining and revitalizing the work of this committee. We need to do that, in order to provide meaningful input for the implementation of the UN conferences and summits. It will also contribute to policy coherence. In this regard, division of labor between Second and Third Committees is a necessary step as well as speedy adoption of the resolution on ECOSOC reform. To this end, full and constant co-operation between member states and the Secretariat is essential. My delegation looks forward to working very closely with you and other delegations to achieve this goal.
Thank you, Madam Chairperson.
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