Jesse Walter
Advisor for Economic and Social Affairs
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
November 18, 2020
AS DELIVERED
On behalf of the United States, we are pleased to join consensus on this resolution. However, we take this opportunity to make important points of clarification on some of the language contained therein.
Acknowledging the far-reaching economic impacts of COVID-19, we continue to have concerns regarding calls for enhancing, ensuring, or strengthening the coherence and consistency of international financial, monetary, and trading systems and policies. This language presumes that the current level of coherence and consistency is sub-optimal in some way, and we do not necessarily share this view. In addition, the United States does not support the attempt to prescribe the appropriate characteristics of international systems that are independent of the UN system. These are not matters on which the UN General Assembly should opine.
Further, the United States is proud of the significant investments we have made both domestically and internationally to advance women’s equality and empowerment. While we are pleased to reaffirm this commitment, this resolution is not the proper venue in which to call for significantly increasing such investment.
Regarding references to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, world trade, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, we refer you to our General Statement today.
Thank you.
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