Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Joint statement by Bolivia, China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Russia at the 2019 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up

Madam President,

2019 is a critical year for the implementation of Addis Ababa Action Agenda and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Financing for development is essential to the achievement of the sustainable development goals and their means of implementation. Imposition of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions, does not contribute to economic and social development and severely threatens the freedom of trade and investment.

We would like to express our deep concern and rejection about the increasing promulgation and application of unilateral economic coercive measures against other states, used by some countries and their associations, particularly by the United States. Such measures, as stated in the Agenda 2030, impede the full achievement of economic and social development and are in violation of the international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

They frequently have an extraterritorial nature, and aim at damaging sensitive economic, financial, social or trade sectors, as well as blocking access to technologies.  Such sanctions undermine the sovereign right to conduct independent domestic and foreign policy by the so called “target” states. An additional matter of concern is that these restrictions are more often also used not only to try to cause “regime change” but also to disguise trade protectionism, to force competitors out and monopolize market access.

No state has the right to dictate its will to others through the use or the threat of political, economic, financial or trade restrictions in violation of international law, first of all, the UN Charter. In fact, proponents of the use of unilateral restrictions oppose themselves to the established world order and the exclusive enforcement prerogative of the UN Security Council in order to maintain international peace and security. In this context, UN General Assembly Resolutions 72/201 entitled "Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries" and 73/167 "Human rights and unilateral coercive measures” become even more important.

It is particularly alarming that the unilateral economic coercive measures have a negative impact on world trade and sustainable development, lead to higher political, economic and social tension in countries and regions, and affect negatively the global business and investment activity. The architecture of the international financial and economic systems is put under threat. Mr. Idriss Jazairy, UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, is regularly reminding about this situation.

We would like once again to reiterate the need to end the policy of double standards and political manipulation of human rights and democracy as a false pretext for introducing unilateral economic coercive measures and legitimizing unfair competition. Such practices go against the principle of “leaving no country and no one behind”.

We call upon all Member States to support an enabling, inclusive and fair international environment and to promote international cooperation in order to fully implement the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and achieve sustainable development for all.

Thank you.