Remarks by H.E. Mher Margaryan, Permanent Representative of Armenia, delivered at the panel “Ideas for Impact: Mobilizing Investment for Sustainable Development Goals”

25 հունվարի, 2019

Remarks by H.E. Mher Margaryan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations

Delivered at the panel “Ideas for Impact: Mobilizing Investment for Sustainable Development Goals”

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this very special event organized by the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN, in cooperation with our long-standing partner for sustainable development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the IDeA Foundation.

At the outset, I would like to acknowledge and welcome our distinguished panelists:
– H.E. Inga Rhonda King, the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and Grenadines and the President of the UN Economic and Social Council, to which Armenia has recently been elected as an incoming member from 2019;
- Mr. Ruben Vardanyan, philanthropist and social entrepreneur, who is the co-founder of IDeA Foundation and Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, among many other prominent projects;
- Dr. Noubar Afeyan, founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, board member of IDeA Foundation, co-founder of Aurora Humanitarian Initiative;
- Mr. Paolo Galli, Senior Regional Adviser at the Regional Bureau of Europe and the CIS of the UNDP
- And finally, the moderator of today’s panel, Mr. Pierre Gurdjian, who is a senior professional in the field of philanthropy, leadership and change management. Mr. Gurdjian is a Philanthropy Partner of the RVVZ Foundation and President of the Board of Directors of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Thank you very much for assuming the very important task of facilitating the conversation we are having today.

I would like to thank H.E. Rhonda King for her insightful remarks and to acknowledge her very practical leadership as a President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. As a newly elected member of the ECOSOC, Armenia stands ready to contribute constructively to the works of the Council.
I want to particularly underline the substantive role of the ECOSOC in conducting the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as assessing due progress.

The Voluntary National Review process within the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, under the auspices of ECOSOC, has been instrumental in terms of sharing lessons learned, as well as the challenges encountered in course of implementation of SDGs. Last year, Armenia presented its first Voluntary National Review to the High Level Political Forum, highlighting the role of partnerships for innovation, in support of socially and environmentally impactful projects.

In Armenia, we are working to ensure compatibility and coherence of our national priorities with the sustainable development goals – a far-reaching, comprehensive process which goes in line with an ambitious reform agenda and a special partnership existing between the Government and the UN Country Team. This aims to trigger the acceleration of the SDGs with a focus on the strong impact of innovation, in advancing what we see as “smart” development of the country.

In this regard, I would like to acknowledge the important role played by our long-standing partner for development cooperation, the UNDP and I want to commend the teams in Yerevan and in the Regional Bureau in New York (the RBEC), for their hard work and collaboration.

We are happy to note that Armenia’s model of partnership with the UNDP already serves as a scalable pilot, in accordance with the country support platform approach offered in the UNDP’s current Strategic Plan. I would also like to particularly acknowledge the important contribution of the UNDP, together with the UN Electoral Assistance Division, in supporting the preparatory process for early parliamentary elections in Armenia.

Conducting genuinely free and fair elections have been at the top of Government’s priorities following the peaceful Velvet Revolution that took place in Armenia in April-May last year. The elections held on 9 December marked an important step towards establishing a strong and robust democratic framework, as also testified and reported by the international observers and media outlets.
Supported by a strong mandate to continue the path of political and economic transformations in Armenia, the Government has embarked upon the reform agenda aimed at protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, independence of judiciary, fighting corruption and promoting equal and fair opportunities for all.

Upholding the rule of law, and fostering meaningful participation in civic life, on behalf of all groups, including women and youth, are fundamental for fostering peaceful and inclusive societies, in line with the Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Armenia strives to translate these priorities into actions in its domestic agenda, as well as internationally.

With this in mind, Armenia will be campaigning for the membership of the Human Rights Council for the years 2020-2022. Within the United Nations, we have been consistent in our efforts to contribute to the mutually reinforcing agendas of the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as prevention of grave violations and atrocity crimes.
Recently, the United Nations marked the 70th anniversary of two landmark documents - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention. These anniversaries remind us about the critical importance of protecting and promoting human rights in carrying out the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and fostering global environment in which all people exercise their fundamental freedoms, free of discrimination on any grounds.

Armenia is resolute to continue to contribute to multilateral efforts to advance the prevention agenda. Last month, Armenia hosted the Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide, held in partnership with the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. Since 2015, the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity has been honoured in Armenia, in recognition of the modern day humanitarians. And I believe Mr. Vardanian and Dr. Afeyan will have an opportunity to elaborate on this very important humanitarian initiative in their respective presentations.

I would like to conclude by highlighting the added value of partnerships for sustainable development – the very idea behind the 2030 agenda and Goal 17, which calls for enhanced synergies for inclusive and collaborative action by the government, the civil society, the private sector in supporting sustainable development efforts. We are determined to continue to work hand in hand with all partners who are committed to ideas for impact, and, in this context, I would like to thank the IDeA Foundation for their commitment and dedication to the UN global goals and the projects implemented in support of the SDGs.

With this, I am happy to turn the floor to our moderator, Mr. Pierre Gurdjian, who will facilitate our deliberations further.

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