Voluntary National Review Report Feedback Session

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

I welcome you all today for this feedback meeting, this meeting is just as important as all the meetings and sessions we have had including the VNR inception meeting, validations, and the final review report meeting which all lead to the presentation of the report at the High-Level Political Forum in July this year. Much work has indeed gone into the VNR process and I want to again, on behalf of the UN family in Lesotho thank you all and appreciate your work and making Lesotho’s 2022 VNR a success, I want to recognize the VNR delegation which represented Lesotho well in New York and they engaged with other countries and we want to learn from them the best practices which can be adopted and replicated in Lesotho.

Now that the report has been presented, it is time for us to reflect. What is the feedback you can give us? What are the lesson learnt from this process? What are the recommendations from VNR labs and other presenting countries? These are the questions we need to be asking ourselves and providing answers to.

I encourage you all to be involved in the action planning towards the implementation of the lessons learnt and recommendations from the VNR progress report because for full ownership of the sustainable development goals, and for their realization in Lesotho, there needs to be full participation of all stakeholders.

Further monitoring the progress Lesotho is making in the implementation of the SDG’s, data will be critical. There are still data gaps which need to be closed on data that is reliable, accurate, relevant and easily accessible, therefore I encourage you to work closely together in finding solutions. The UN stands ready to support, even in empowering and improving the functions of SDG coordination mechanisms which have been established. Let us ensure that these SDG structures are empowered and capacitated to implement the 2030 Agenda in its entirety, beyond the VNR recommendations. 

To the civil society organizations which are present there today, consider engaging the Government and the UN more on issues of sustainable development, as CSOs, you have a big role to play in complementing the VNR process.  Civil Society as an example can work on producing shadow VNR reports.

I applaud the government of Lesotho for its commitment and leadership in advancing sustainable development in Lesotho. None of us can achieve this bold agenda alone, it is only through our ability to work together in coherence which will determine how far we will go.

At point I want to wish the team fruitful deliberations.