Mr. Wu Hongbo Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Secretary-General for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development

Closing Statement
Development cooperation for people and planet: What will it take?

10 April 2015, Incheon

Deputy Minister Shin,
State Minister Kajara,
Ambassador Sajdik,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to start by expressing once again my heartfelt thanks to the Government of the Republic of Korea, for hosting a very successful Symposium. The success of the first High-level Symposium towards the 2016 DCF is manifested on multiple fronts. Most importantly, this Symposium generated a truly substantive and concrete input to the preparatory process of upcoming International Conference on Financing for Development.

Any attempt to summarize the Symposium will not do justice to the richness of your discussions. However, our colleagues have taken notes of the discussions, which are made available by the Secretariat.

I would like to take this opportunity to share some personal reflections.

First, a transformative, unified and universal post-2015 development agenda requires a renewed global partnership for sustainable development. Mutual trust and confidence is the key stepping stone. This cannot be built without the fulfillment of past commitments including those on ODA.

Second, a universal development agenda does not infringe upon the freedom to choose the most suitable development pathway by countries and by their peoples, nor does it mean all should pursue the same priorities. Universality will ensure that all countries and all segments of their societies benefit from sustainable development. There are multiple routes towards that objective, but all should lead to maximized synergy of the three dimensions of sustainable development.

Third, in the area of international cooperation for development, no stone should be left unturned. Policies and solutions exist. Past lessons tell that the post-2015 development agenda will only succeed with means and implementation and a strong follow-up process and mechanisms.

The upcoming Third International Conference on Financing for Development will do just that. Next week, Member States will gather in New York to discuss the outcome document of the Conference. The intergovernmental process forward is expected to achieve the following:

First, a comprehensive financing framework for sustainable development, which addresses the three dimensions of sustainable development in a balanced manner, with poverty eradication at its core. It must also be relevant to the implementation of the SDGs, and should seek coherence and maximize synergies with other financing streams, including climate finance;

Second, concrete policy commitments and other deliverables, which can create momentum for the Summit in September and for the Paris Conference on Climate Change in December.

Third, broad-based consensus on key elements and mechanisms that should be in place to ensure a strong and meaningful follow-up process.

As the Secretary-General of the Conference, let me assure you of the full support of the Secretariat in ensuring that the Conference achieves all three objectives. I also would like to take this opportunity to urge all the Member States to attend the Conference at the highest possible level, which is really crucial to the success of the Conference.

Dear colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

This DCF High-level Symposium once again testifies the potential and relevance of the Forum in the follow-up to the post-2015 development agenda.

You have laid out a vision for the future of the DCF.

The DCF will strive to stay ahead of the curves by focusing on the future of development cooperation and emerging issues.

The trends and effectiveness of development cooperation should stay at the forefront of the DCF’s work with South-South cooperation as a complement to North-South cooperation. It should pay increased attention to capacity building, especially in data collection and statistical analysis.

You have also given us a number of ideas regarding the preparatory phase of the 2016 DCF. This symposium has launched the process by flagging the issues of more and better ODA leveraging of private resources, alignment of the Rio and Monterrey tracks and the future of development cooperation.

Dear colleagues and friends,

Before we formally conclude the Symposium, I would like to invite all of you to join me in thanking our wonderful host, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea for their hospitality. The generous support and efforts of our host country has made the Symposium a success. The personal presence of Minister Yun showed Korea’s strong commitment to development cooperation.

I would also like to thank the governments of Uganda and Belgium, who are going to host the next two Symposia.

I thank all speakers and participants for their active engagement. Special appreciation goes to our moderators Ms. Melinda Crane and Mr. Henry Bonsu, who guided us through all the discussion and sometimes debates with your professionalism, humor and great skills.

I thank the PCO team, the interpreters, the volunteers and all who worked behind the scenes for their kind support. Their professionalism and efficiency are unparalleled.

Last but not least, let me thank my Director Mr. Navid Hanif and his team for their hard work.

I wish you a safe trip home.

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