Launch of the 2022 Voluntary National Review for Sustainable Development Goals

Bo Mme le Bo-Ntate, Khotsong!  

Allow me to pay my respects to:

HIS MAJESTY KING LETSIE III

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE PRIME MINISTER

HONOURABLE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

HONOURABLE SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

HIS LORDSHIP THE CHIEF JUSTICE

HONOURABLE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

HONOURABLE MEMBERS OF HIS MAJESTY’S CABINET

HIS LORDSHIP THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT OF APPEAL

HONOURABLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

THEIR LORDSHIPS JUDGES OF THE COURT OF APPEAL AND THE HIGH COURT

YOUR EXCELLENCIES MEMBERS OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS

DISTINGUISHED GUESTS

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

ALL PROTOCOL OBSERVED

Today Lesotho launches the National Voluntary Review. A Process through which countries assess and present progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which are at the core of Lesotho’s development priorities.

I would like to commend the Government of Lesotho for volunteering as second time presenters together with 22 other African countries. You will recall that Lesotho volunteered to report in the 2019 VNR process and came up with recommendations for implementation.  We have heard some of the achievements that were made following that report.  As the process begins, we at the United Nations, look forward to partnering with the people of Lesotho as they introspect and look at what has been achieved and is yet to be delivered in these remaining 8 years of the agenda 2030.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government of Lesotho for inviting the United Nations as a key partner on this journey of review; As you know, we too, are committed to the realization of Agenda 2030. This is because we know that the successful delivery of the sustainable development goals will transform the lives of many people, particularly those who are at risk and most vulnerable in the face of food insecurity, climate change, gender-based violence, unemployment, limited access to health services and poor quality education to mention a few.   

The UN’s commitment to this end, remains solid and unwavering.  As such, I would like to recognize the technical and financial support from the different UN agencies towards this VNR process.

This year Lesotho will be presenting its report goals 4, 5, 15 and 17.

Goal 4 is on education.

In the last 24 months, we have witnessed how COVID19 has hampered the quality of education in the country: for example, the inability of children to access education consistently resulting also in many children going hungry as they depended on meals provided at schools through school feeding programmes. This will have long term consequences as these children grow to take up opportunities.

The goal on education, like all the other goals, does not stand alone and if not achieved, will have impacts on other goals.  It is timely that this launch is happening during international women’s month which celebrates the achievements of women and girls globally.  It is also a month when we stop and take stock of what else needs to be done to achieve gender justice and dignity for all women and girls.  

This relates to goal 5, gender equality. As you expect, Prime Minister, this is a subject that is very close to my heart.  As a woman, a mother, a sister, aunt, daughter, I relate to my fellow women in this beautiful Mountain Kingdom.  Their dignity is the dignity of all BaSotho people. Their happiness is the happiness of the whole nation. Their suffering is also the suffering of the entire country economically, socially and politically.

When we speak of gender equality we are speaking about the dignity of every girl and woman in Lesotho. The rights of women as enshrined in international conventions that Lesotho has signed up and ratified need to be domesticated so that these rights can have meaning in every day lives.  Employment opportunities both in Maseru and in the country side, need to be fair and available to ensure the wellbeing of women.  Women need to be able to live free from fear of violence against their personhood and bodily integrity. Prime Minister, even as we celebrated international Women’s Day yesterday, we took time to pause and remember the young girl living with disabilities whose life has been violated by those who should have been protecting her.  It was reassuring to see that the justice system in Lesotho has come through for this little girl.  We must all be determined to work towards strengthening these systems and structures so that they will always be there for women and girls when they need them.   Gender equality, Hon Prime Minister is a key indicator of the moral heart of any community. This leads me to goal 15. An important goal for both men and women.  But perhaps more so for women as they depend on the land for life.

Goal 15. Life on land.  How do we restore the damage which we have caused? The damage we have caused through deforestation, pollution, land degradation, resulting in losses of natural habitats and land that is no longer fertile. Protecting this planet and preserving biodiversity is key to our own survival. 

Last but no the least, achieving agenda 2030 will require great and sustainable partnerships. We must work together! But who is the ‘we’? The government, the people, the youth, women, the private sector, the diasporan communities, the Church and religious organisations, the international community… we need partnerships that leverage different assets – financial resources, community-based knowledge, technologies. We need partnerships that open up opportunities in the country and in the region and globally. We need partnerships that unleash creativity and innovation. Partnerships that will deliver the Lesotho we want.  

At the sensitization workshop which took place a few weeks ago, I mentioned that in the process of interrogating these goals, we need to be truthful in what we have done and what still needs to be done. Let us make sure that as many of the Basotho people as possible are involved, no one must be left behind.

Honourable Prime Minister,

I Would like to call on the government to make the process inclusive, making sure that the voices of women groups, farmers, civil society, people with disabilities, private sector, academia, religious leader, the media, the young and old are all considered.

Honourable Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen…

This launch is a key milestone which feeds into the High Level Political Forum which will be held in July later this year, this leaves us with only four months to complete this process, this means timelines are very tight and I therefore encourage all the teams working on this to keep the eye on the ball until the end and not to lose focus along the way. 

Finally, I call upon the government to establish a mechanism for follow-up on the implementation of the VNR recommendations and to also report on the status of the implementation.

I would like to reassure the government that under my leadership, continued support from the UN to accelerate the SDGs can be guaranteed. We are ready to work with the government as key stakeholders in the upcoming UNDAF evaluation which will provide us with important insights for the design of a new cooperation framework, aligned to the national development priorities of Lesotho.

I thank you

KHOTSO PULA NALA