Jesse Walter
Adviser
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
November 26, 2019
AS DELIVERED
On behalf of the U.S. government, I would like to extend our thanks to the co-facilitators from Cabo Verde and Trinidad and Tobago. Their leadership and collegiality resulted in a resolution that addresses the very important issues facing the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
We take this opportunity to make important points of clarification on some of the language contained in this resolution.
Regarding references to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the New Urban Agenda, the Paris Agreement and climate change, as well as the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we refer you to our Global Explanation of Position delivered on November 21, 2019.
With regards to operative paragraph 10, the United States does not support the creation of a new financial instrument with unproven effectiveness. We would also note that this is not the forum to discuss instruments or funds.
Finally, regarding OP12 and 13, per capita income and creditworthiness should be the primary criteria to assess graduation readiness, and we do not accept the UN as the appropriate forum for determining eligibility and allocation of our foreign aid. The proper forum for this is the Boards of the MDBs, not the UN. Furthermore, the United States recognizes that concessional finance should be focused on countries that are most in need and least able to access other sources of financing. However, we reiterate that we do not support the development of multidimensional eligibility criteria for official development assistance, as any measure beyond per capita income could be subject to manipulation and politicization.
As we said during the adoption of the SAMOA Pathway Political Declaration last month, the United States has a long history of working with SIDS and understand the unique circumstances facing these countries. We are committed to working together to tackle global and regional challenges, including promoting regional security and stability, advancing sustainable growth, addressing environmental challenges, responding to natural disasters, and strengthening our people-to-people ties.
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