By TIOL News Service

NEW YROK, OCT 02, 2014: WITH the international community heading into a “momentous” year, in which a sustainable development framework will be crafted, the Minister of Human and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan told the United Nations that the new agenda will be truly transformative only if it is grounded in the real needs of countries and promotes meaningful change.

“This is an opportune moment to define a new era in international development and cooperation – one builds on the successes and shortcomings of more than three decades of internationally agreed development goals, and the Millennium Development Goals in particular,” Lyonpo Damcho Dorji told the General Assembly on the last day of its annual General Debate segment.

He said that the post-2015 process must activate real and meaningful change for all countries if it is indeed to be transformative. And for that to happen, the new development agenda “must be anchored on the need for breakthroughs to address the hard ground realities of different countries, especially with regard to capacity and financing for development.”

As such, Mr. Dorji continued, a collaborative approach based on an appreciation of the unique circumstances and experience of each country and driven by the desire for true working partnerships among and within countries will be vital.