Mr. President,
It is indeed a distinct privilege to congratulate you on behalf of the Government and people of Barbados on your election as President of this 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. It is appropriate that I commend, also, your predecessor H.E. Mr. John Ashe for the aplomb with which he guided the deliberations of the General Assembly in the 68th Session.

The theme of this year's Assembly- "Delivering On and Implementing a Post-2015 Development Agenda"- is both timely and critical. Fourteen years ago, world leaders placed the Millennium Development Goals, a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets, at the heart of the global development agenda. Today, we stand on the cusp of the unveiling of a future global agenda for development. This must be an ambitious, long­ term project to improve people's lives and protect the planet for future generations. The seventeen goals and targets proposed by the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals must form the main basis for the elaboration of the post-201S development agenda. This is especially so if we are to create a truly transformative global programme i anchored in the three dimensions of sustainable development, with poverty eradication as its central objective and overarching goal.