Summary
Following the opening of the Ministerial Segment on Monday, participants at the 2016 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) discussed “Main messages from first HLPF week: our starting point.” This was followed by keynote speeches and panel discussions related to the meeting’s theme of “Ensuring that no one is left behind,” on: “Reaching the most vulnerable;” “Challenges of countries in special situations;” and “Unlocking means of implementation (MOI) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and creating an enabling environment.” A general debate took place at the end of the day.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily reports, daily web coverage and a summary and analysis from HLPF 2016, which is available in HTML and PDF format.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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Opening of the Ministerial Segment
Delegates gather for the opening of the Ministerial Segment
Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN
Oh Joon, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN and President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN and Vice
President of ECOSOC
Héctor Alejandro Palma Cerna, Deputy Permanent Representative of Honduras to the UN and Vice President of ECOSOC
Mogens Lykketoft, President of
the UN General Assembly
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Vice President of Viet Nam
Ensuring that no one is left behind: reaching the most vulnerable
Panel speakers during the session
Hugo Roger Martínez Bonilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs, El Salvador
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany
Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Kate Gilmore, Deputy High
Commissioner for Human Rights
Md. Shahidul Haque, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
Christian Friis Bach, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Delegates watch proceedings from the gallery
Ensuring that no one is left behind: challenges of countries in special situations
View of the dais during the session
Álvaro García, Office of Planning and Budget of the Presidency, Uruguay
Gyan Chandra Acharya, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary-General, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
Helen Clark, Administrator,
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman,
2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Karina Gould, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development, Canada
Ricardo Cardona, Minister of Social Development, Honduras
Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Daniel Mensinga, Major Group for Children and Youth
Ensuring that no one is left behind: unlocking the means of implementation for
the Sustainable Development Goals and creating an enabling environment
View of the dais during the session
Michelle Muschett, Vice Minister of Social Development, Panama
Ardalan Shekarabi, Minister for Public Administration, Sweden
Axel Bertuch-Samuels,
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Vaughan Turekian,
Advisor to the US Secretary of State
Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development
Douglas Frantz, Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group
Representatives from the Women's Major Group hold up pictures of environmental and human rights activists who have been killed, demonstrating the need to create an enabling environment for stakeholder participation
General Debate
Delegates participate in a general debate
Virachai Plasai, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the UN, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China
Juan Temístocles Montás, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Dominician Republic, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
Bernard Kamphasa, Zambia, speaking
on behalf of the LLDCs
Eden Charles, Deputy Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the UN, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Jiko Fatafehi Luveni, Fiji, speaking on behalf of the Group of Pacific SIDS
Mohammed Khaled Khiari, Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the UN, speaking on behalf of the African Group
Mohammed Maziad Al Tuwaijri,
Vice-Minister of Economy and Planning, Saudi Arabia
Celebrating Nelson Mandela Day
A special event is held in the ECOSOC Chamber to commemorate "Mandela Day"
Delegates stand to observe a moment of silence to honor Nelson Mandela and his contribution to freedom and justice in the world
Stevie Wonder, UN Messenger of Peace
Around the Venue
Delegates gather for the start of the Ministerial Segment
Delegates greet each other before the start of plenary
Delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Delegates from South Africa
Delegates speak informally
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Vice-President of Viet Nam, participate in
an event "Scream from Nature" that emphasized the importance of environmental protection
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Vice-President of Viet Nam,
stand with children during the event
Musical performance by fifth graders from the
Special Music School, New York
Around the UN Headquarters
