30 September 2014: On the final day of the UN General Assembly's (UNGA) 69th General Debate, speakers again addressed their countries priorities for the post-2015 development agenda as well as topics such as climate change, health and security. Closing the Debate on 30 September, UNGA President Sam Kutesa urged Member States to “make real and meaningful change in the livelihoods of humanity and the health of our planet.”
Several speakers shared their countries' progress towards realizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including Yousef Bin Al-Alawi Bin Abdulla, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Oman, Collin Beck, Permanent Representative, Solomon Islands, and Jorge Alberto Silva Borges, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cape Verde. Wilfred Elrington, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Belize, said its MDG experience “makes us less than sanguine that we will be more successful in achieving the post-2015 development agenda.” Alva Romanus Baptiste, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation, Saint Lucia, welcomed the development bank established by Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (the BRICS), which he said would assist countries to achieve the MDGs. Rimbink Pato, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration, Papua New Guinea (PNG), said it tailored the MDGs to its national priorities with 88 indicators connected to its national development plan.
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