STATEMENT BY
MS. YANG AISHAH ADNAN
FIRST SECRETARY
PERMANENT MISSION OF MALAYSIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
AT THE SECOND COMMITTEE OF THE 77TH UNGA
ON AGENDA ITEM 19: FOLLOW-UP TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW URBAN AGENDA AND STRENGTHENING OF THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PROGRAMME (UN-HABITAT); AND
AGENDA ITEM 23: OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT
14 OCTOBER 2022
Madam Chair,
Malaysia aligns itself with the statements delivered by Pakistan on behalf of the G77 and China, and Thailand on behalf of ASEAN, respectively.
Madam Chair,
2. Last April, the High-Level Meeting on the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda was convened in New York. This was followed by the 11th World Urban Forum held in Poland in June. On both occasions, the international community reinforced their commitment to implement the New Urban Agenda to accelerate sustainable development and work towards resilient recovery.
3. As an urban nation, with 25.7 million people living in urban areas, sustainable urbanisation has been one of the key principles in Malaysia’s development planning. Efforts and initiatives are being made by localising and aligning the SDGs into our 12th National Development Plan as well as through Malaysia’s National Urbanisation Policy. In parallel, Malaysia will also advance green growth towards a low-carbon nation, ultimately attaining a future of net-zero emissions by 2050.
4. The progress made in implementing the mandates of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) and the strong commitment by the UNDS deserves commendation. Malaysia will continue to collaborate closely with the UN Country Team, in advancing our national development agenda. We believe the UNDS would continue to be an invaluable development partner to Malaysia in delivering transparent and results-based progress, tailored to our national priorities and capabilities.
Madam Chair,
5. We also wish to commend the work of the UN-Habitat for its continued active role in assisting Member States to implement the New Urban Agenda. Indeed, we have witnessed how the pandemic underscored the need for resilient cities, making it more urgent than ever to review the features of cities and prepare for future pandemics and shocks. My delegation will continue to support the UN-Habitat in its work to explore the role of data, science, technology and innovation with a view to building resilient cities.
6. One of the main issues that deserves our utmost attention is housing affordability crisis. In developing countries, a staggering figure of more than 1 billion people still live in slums. Even in the developed world, housing has become unaffordable for many. In spite of financial tools to support better access to housing, it remains imperative for greater political will to translate policies into reality. If this is left unaddressed, inequalities and vulnerabilities will continue to deepen.
Madam Chair,
7. Malaysia is committed and will continue to support global partnerships in addressing the special needs of the LDCs, SIDS and LLDCs. Against this backdrop, Malaysia advocates the importance of leveraging on the complementarity of South-South Cooperation in promoting sustainable socio-economic growth and development. Malaysia will continue to play its role in providing capacity-building and technical assistance programmes under the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP), which has thus far benefitted a total of 44 recipient countries. These programmes include key areas such as agriculture, economy, finance and trade, industrial technical training and social development.
8. In conclusion, Malaysia believes that only through coordinated global collaboration we can ensure that no one is left behind. This would include strong partnership with the UNDS to advance the 2030 Agenda including through the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.
I thank you.