Spanish participation and priorities in United Nations High-Level Week

This event, held every year at the end of this month, will take place this year from 23 to 27 September. In total, this will gather together more than 180 world leaders (between Heads of State and Government and ministers) to discuss and take action to address the challenges facing the planet.

The idea has gradually taken hold, as different periods of sessions of the General Assembly pass, that the time for speeches is over and that now is the time to present concrete plans.

The main challenges (climate change, imbalances in the distribution of wealth and the achievements of development, mass displacements and, on occasion, forced displacements, risks of pandemics, terrorism, extremism, violations of human rights and international humanitarian law) demand responses and immediate and clear action by governments and all parties involved. Responses that can only be global and concerted, that is, multilateral. Spain is convinced of the need to reform and revitalise the institution and wishes to convert the United Nations (UN) into a platform for change and urgent action.

Under this new approach, which our country fully takes on, very specific initiatives will be presented at the main forums to be held during the week:

Climate Action Summit (23 September)

The aim of this summit is to speed up the processes designed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. During the meeting, specific plans and initiatives will be presented to address the problem of climate change. Spain, together with Peru, has launched initiatives on the matters of Gender and Climate Change, Health and Climate Change and the Just Transition that will be presented at the summit.

Sustainable Development Goals Summit (24 and 25 September) and High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development (26 September)

These two meetings will be used to reflect on the commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and actions will be identified which are designed to achieve them by the year 2030. World leaders will debate with experts and representatives from the business and financial sector on the actions that should be carried out to guarantee financing for development with a view to achieving the SDG. Our country will present, within this framework, a report on the progress of the application of the 2030 Agenda at a national level.

High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (23 September)

Efforts are due to be made by all countries and, for the first time at this forum, the need will be addressed to establish universal health coverage systems as a factor of inclusion, development and prosperity.

High-Level Meeting to review SAMOA Pathway (27 September)

ONUThis is a process that began in 2014, known as "the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action" in which various ways are discussed to support Small Island States and cater for their singularities (extreme vulnerability to climate change and other disruptions, lack of capacity or reduced size of their economies and markets, among others). The Spanish delegation will attend the meeting and clearly outline, together with the United Nations Organisation for Industrial Development, good practices in regard to the creation of a Network of Regional Centres for Sustainable Energy.

The Spanish delegation will be headed up by the Acting President of the Government, accompanied by the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, the Acting Minister for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Well-being, the Acting Minister for Ecological Transition, the High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the State Secretary for International Cooperation, for Ibero-America and the Caribbean, and the State Secretary for Employment. Several regional and local government officials will also take part.

Our action during this period of sessions will be based on three key pillars:

ONUAttention for the dignity of the person. Our country has played a fundamental role in many initiatives on gender equality, humanitarian diplomacy and the protection and promotion of human rights. It will continue extending its influence in these areas through United Nations mechanism and, particularly, through the Human Rights Council, an institution we are a member of for the period 2018-2020.

Attention for the security of people. The establishment of initiatives aimed at guaranteeing the security of people from global threats is essential. We will continue to support the peacekeeping work of the United Nations, which has already involved a leading participation in more than 50 missions since 1989, with the presence of more than 160,000 servicemen dating back to that year. The fight against terrorism and violent extremism is another of the main pillars.

Attention for sustainable development focused on the human being. Spain is fully committed to the 2030 Agenda to comply with the SDG in all their aspects, as well as in the fight against climate change, the paradigm of which is the Paris Agreement.

Taking these three pillars into account, we will actively participate in the five main meetings of the ministerial week as well as in a number of parallel events. In this regard, the Spanish delegation will pay close attention to the following events, at which it will be represented at a ministerial and State secretary level:

Women, Peace and Security: Ministerial Meeting of the WPS Focal Points Network. This is an event organised by Namibia in which our country and Finland will present the Declaration "Commitment 2025 on Women's Inclusion in Peace Processes" to guarantee the effective and full participation of women in all peace processes.

Equality and non-discrimination: in addition to many events on gender equality, Spain will be present at a ministerial level in the event of the LGBTI Core Group, given over this year to the discourse of hatred against this group.

Multilateralism: our country will take part in the initiative entitled "Alliance for Multilateralism".

Fight against impunity: Spain will participate at a ministerial level in the annual meeting of the Informal Support Group for the International Criminal Court. This is an important year for the ICC because a far-reaching process of reform and revitalisation will be initiated.

Sustainable Development Goals (SGD): our presence will be particularly noteworthy at numerous events regarding the SDG Summit. In particular, the 2nd Local and Regional Governments Forum is worth mentioning. Under this same heading, Spain will co-chair an event on the localisation of the SDG with Nigeria.

Fight against terrorism: Spain will take part in the Dialogue of International Leaders in the Fight against Terrorism and Violent Extremism, in the Global Counter-terrorism Forum and in a debate on the Impact of Counter-terrorism Measures and Sanctions in Preserving the Integrity of the Humanitarian Space.

Non-proliferation: our country will take part in the Conference on Article 14 of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and, together with the countries of the Stockholm Group, will manage events to preserve the non-proliferation regime.

Alliance of the Civilisations: Spain will take part in the Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of the Alliance of the Civilisations, at which it will analyse the progress made by this institution.

ONUIn addition, Spain will take part in two particularly important commemorations this year: the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions (international humanitarian law) and the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Spain has played an active role in the organisation of some events that will take place during the ministerial week. There is a noteworthy series of actions to present the commitments launched by the Spain/Peru coalition on the just transition, health and gender, as well as a Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Victims of Terrorism, co-organised with Afghanistan, which will include the participation of the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Fight against Terrorism, Mr Voronkov.

Lastly, the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and the State Secretaries for Foreign Affairs, and for International Cooperation, for Ibero-America and the Caribbean will holds all kinds of meetings to develop political solutions to current situations, such as in Venezuela, the Middle East, Syria, Mali and the Sahel and Somalia.

Non official translation