Statement by H.E. Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, at the 2017 Partnership Forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council: “Partnerships for promoting opportunities, increased prosperity and sustainable development for all”
5 April 2017
H.E. Mr. Frederick Shava, President of ECOSOC,
Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to be here this morning, to address the Economic and Social Council’s 2017 Partnership Forum.
Just last week I had the honour of speaking at an ECOSOC Special Meeting in Dakar, Senegal, on the topic of ‘Innovations for Infrastructure Development and Sustainable Industrialization’.
The message from the participants could not have been clearer – with Africa home to more than 70 percent of the world’s Least Developed Countries, 9 out of 16 UN peacekeeping missions, and more than half of the global population living in extreme poverty, we must look beyond traditional means of implementation, towards new and innovative ways of partnering to ensure Africa’s sustainable development needs are met.
Excellencies,
Driving transformative global action on the scale necessary to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, requires all countries and stakeholders to act in collaborative, multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Indeed, strategic and innovative partnerships are essential to driving smart, innovative and integrated action to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Without them we just won’t get there. Allow me to illustrate some examples.
With almost 800 million people across our world currently without access to safe drinking water, it will only be by leveraging the comparative advantages of all partners that we’ll be able to ensure universal access by 2030.
With 2.6 billion people living without full-time access to electricity, it will only be by all partners working coherently that we’ll be able to find the solutions for delivery of universal access.
And with more than 120 million children currently out of school, it will only be by tapping into the insights of local actors and the resources of global actors that we’ll be able to ensure all girls and boys are able to complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education.
Partnerships are fundamental to mobilising the estimated US$5-7 trillion in annual investments needed to achieve the SDGs, including private, blended, alternative and public sources, as well as Official Development Assistance and domestic resources.
They will be central to the harnessing of the power of technology to solve SDG implementation challenges, including by adapting innovations to local conditions in order to spur green economic growth, build resilient infrastructure, and drive SDG action.
And they will be a vital part of the work to expand economic opportunities for women and girls, for youth as a whole and for ensuring inclusivity in development so that gains may reach the most vulnerable members of our societies.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thus it is that that we must look at ways to forge new, strategic and innovative partnerships that bring together key stakeholders. Partnerships can bring together Governments at all levels, the UN, international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector, academic and scientific communities, tech leaders and innovators, philanthropic institutions, and grassroots organisations.
And we must consider how to ensure these partnerships contribute to sustaining peace, meeting national development priorities, promoting inclusivity, good governance, transparency and respect for human rights.
In all of this, Governments have a pivotal role to play in opening the doors for partnerships to allow SDG action in the areas of greatest need. This includes through establishing policy and regulatory frameworks that create an enabling environment for investment.
In this regard, capacity-building and technical assistance must be provided to developing countries, particularly those in special situation, including LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS and Africa, for whom such partnerships and investments are crucial to driving sustainable economic growth and development.
The UN also has a critical role to play including, for example, in considering ways to map existing SDG partnerships, and identify gaps where new partnerships are needed to help bring SDG implementation to scale.
Excellencies,
As you know, I am committed to doing what I can during the 71st Session to bring together Governments, civil society, investors and innovators, in a concerted drive to push for implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
I am convening a series of High-Level SDG Action events aimed at bringing together these key stakeholders to share ideas, broker partnerships, and drive implementation action.
To date, these high-level events have focussed on the synergies between Sustainable Development and Sustaining Peace, and with the impact of Climate Change of the implementation of the SDGs. I will be convening a number of further action events, including a SDG Financing Lab on 18 April, an event on Innovation and Connectivity on 17 May, and an event on Education on 28 June.
Partnerships are going to play a central role in The Ocean Conference being held at the UN from 5-9 June. Transformative partnerships already in existence and increasingly being formed to drive action to save our Ocean and these will be a central feature of the conference.
The Ocean Conference will be organised around seven partnership dialogues, and the outcomes of the Conference will include a register of voluntary commitments that will serve as a compilation of humanity’s best efforts to implement the ambitious targets of SDG14.
I am therefore encouraging all stakeholders to forge new and innovative partnerships for Ocean action, and to register voluntary commitments as soon as possible on the Conference website, so that momentum for the success of The Ocean Conference and SDG14 is unstoppable.
Excellencies,
If the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved in the next 13 years, and if we are to have any hope of securing a sustainable future for us all, we must let go of old grievances and scepticism, and join forces through new and inclusive ways of thinking, partnering, financing, and delivering on the ground.
Strategic and innovative partnerships hold the key to our success. So we must embrace them as a fundamental part of the solution, so that together we ensure delivery on the universal promise of the SDGs.
I thank you.