Your Excellency, Mr. Oh Joon, President of the Economic and Social Council,Mrs. Mary Robinson,Honourable Ministers,Excellencies,Distinguished guests,Ladies and Gentlemen,
We gather here for the Fifth Biennial Development Cooperation Forum – the key forum for all stakeholders to focus together on the role of development cooperation in the SDG era.
It is my honour to introduce the 2016 Report of the Secretary-General on “Trends and progress in international development cooperation”.
The report builds on the two-year preparatory process for this meeting, including high-level symposiums in three regions and extensive analytical work. One overarching theme has emerged: the importance and tremendous potential of development cooperation, broadly defined, as a lever for effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
In this spirit, I would like to introduce and draw your special attention to seven sets of recommendations. Seven sets in seven minutes, if I can speak quickly!
First, development cooperation today includes a wide variety of international actions and actors. It should remain tightly focused on developing countries’ efforts to implement the SDGs, with a fundamental concern to leave no one behind – especially the poorest and the most vulnerable.
Second, the SDG era requires a change of mind-set for all actors in development cooperation. We must all look at interlinkages between sectors, break down silos, tailor our actions better to specific national and local situations, and build broader, multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Development cooperation can serve as an integrating force to realize the 2030 Agenda. It can facilitate inclusive cross-sector partnerships and provide capacity support for policy coherence for sustainable development.
Development cooperation institutions at all levels, including the United Nations system, need adjustments. Global institutions should align their priorities, corporate strategies, operational approaches, funding and capacity with the 2030 Agenda.
Third, all existing ODA commitments must be met. ODA today accounts for only a very small proportion of the total available financing for sustainable development for developing countries. Yet, it remains an important driver of development cooperation, especially in least developed countries.
ODA should be further prioritized and used better to primarily target people in deepest poverty and countries with weakest capacities.
ODA to non-emergency situations fell in 2014, due to increasing costs of humanitarian aid and ‘in-donor’ refugee hosting, triggered by conflicts and other emergency situations. The situation seems to be stabilizing. Yet, the potential effect of such trend on the ODA available for long-term investment in sustainable development, and for building resilience of countries and communities, should be monitored closely.
Fourth, ODA can also act as a catalyst to mobilize other sources. This DCF cycle has focused especially on ODA as a possible leveraging tool in areas such as domestic resource mobilization, statistical capacity-building, and mobilizing public-private partnerships in developing countries.
The effectiveness of these activities needs to be monitored and reviewed for mutual learning. Blended finance, in particular should support national development priorities and increase sustainable development impact. This is part of a broader effort to engage the private sector in development cooperation. We have to overcome the barriers and practical challenges to better reporting on quantity, quality and effectiveness of private and blended development cooperation at all levels.
Fifth, development cooperation, including through South-South and tri-angular cooperation, should also take a prominent role in unleashing the transformative power of science, technology and innovation.
We should all draw lessons from the new initiatives of rapidly evolving South-South Cooperation. This includes their follow-up and evaluation mechanisms and the insights Southern partners can offer in managing development cooperation.
The United Nations will continue to support efforts of Southern partners to enhance evidence base on how to achieve better sustainable development results.
Sixth, achieving genuine country ownership and alignment will require a significant shift in cooperation frameworks and processes in all countries. International development cooperation should support the governments of developing countries to develop or strengthen their national development cooperation policies and country results frameworks in line with SDGs. It should also promote the use of programme-based approaches for achieving more country-owned sustainable development.
National development cooperation plans should be owned by whole societies, through institutionalized participatory development processes that engage all stakeholders, including parliaments, with their vital oversight role.
The seventh and final set of recommendations points to our collective responsibility for monitoring and review of progress towards development cooperation commitments in the 2030 Agenda and Addis Ababa Action Agenda, through intensified knowledge sharing and mutual learning, and rooted in accountability of governments to their people.
This in turn will require increased resources and capacity support for robust national- and local-level monitoring and review of development cooperation commitments, supported by effective global and regional follow-up and review mechanisms.
Ladies and gentlemen,
These seven areas all address essential components of maximizing the potential of development cooperation in the SDG era. Let us have a frank and focused dialogue around these issues.
I wish the Forum great success full of invigorating and action-oriented deliberations.
Thank you.
We gather here for the Fifth Biennial Development Cooperation Forum – the key forum for all stakeholders to focus together on the role of development cooperation in the SDG era.
It is my honour to introduce the 2016 Report of the Secretary-General on “Trends and progress in international development cooperation”.
The report builds on the two-year preparatory process for this meeting, including high-level symposiums in three regions and extensive analytical work. One overarching theme has emerged: the importance and tremendous potential of development cooperation, broadly defined, as a lever for effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
In this spirit, I would like to introduce and draw your special attention to seven sets of recommendations. Seven sets in seven minutes, if I can speak quickly!
First, development cooperation today includes a wide variety of international actions and actors. It should remain tightly focused on developing countries’ efforts to implement the SDGs, with a fundamental concern to leave no one behind – especially the poorest and the most vulnerable.
Second, the SDG era requires a change of mind-set for all actors in development cooperation. We must all look at interlinkages between sectors, break down silos, tailor our actions better to specific national and local situations, and build broader, multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Development cooperation can serve as an integrating force to realize the 2030 Agenda. It can facilitate inclusive cross-sector partnerships and provide capacity support for policy coherence for sustainable development.
Development cooperation institutions at all levels, including the United Nations system, need adjustments. Global institutions should align their priorities, corporate strategies, operational approaches, funding and capacity with the 2030 Agenda.
Third, all existing ODA commitments must be met. ODA today accounts for only a very small proportion of the total available financing for sustainable development for developing countries. Yet, it remains an important driver of development cooperation, especially in least developed countries.
ODA should be further prioritized and used better to primarily target people in deepest poverty and countries with weakest capacities.
ODA to non-emergency situations fell in 2014, due to increasing costs of humanitarian aid and ‘in-donor’ refugee hosting, triggered by conflicts and other emergency situations. The situation seems to be stabilizing. Yet, the potential effect of such trend on the ODA available for long-term investment in sustainable development, and for building resilience of countries and communities, should be monitored closely.
Fourth, ODA can also act as a catalyst to mobilize other sources. This DCF cycle has focused especially on ODA as a possible leveraging tool in areas such as domestic resource mobilization, statistical capacity-building, and mobilizing public-private partnerships in developing countries.
The effectiveness of these activities needs to be monitored and reviewed for mutual learning. Blended finance, in particular should support national development priorities and increase sustainable development impact. This is part of a broader effort to engage the private sector in development cooperation. We have to overcome the barriers and practical challenges to better reporting on quantity, quality and effectiveness of private and blended development cooperation at all levels.
Fifth, development cooperation, including through South-South and tri-angular cooperation, should also take a prominent role in unleashing the transformative power of science, technology and innovation.
We should all draw lessons from the new initiatives of rapidly evolving South-South Cooperation. This includes their follow-up and evaluation mechanisms and the insights Southern partners can offer in managing development cooperation.
The United Nations will continue to support efforts of Southern partners to enhance evidence base on how to achieve better sustainable development results.
Sixth, achieving genuine country ownership and alignment will require a significant shift in cooperation frameworks and processes in all countries. International development cooperation should support the governments of developing countries to develop or strengthen their national development cooperation policies and country results frameworks in line with SDGs. It should also promote the use of programme-based approaches for achieving more country-owned sustainable development.
National development cooperation plans should be owned by whole societies, through institutionalized participatory development processes that engage all stakeholders, including parliaments, with their vital oversight role.
The seventh and final set of recommendations points to our collective responsibility for monitoring and review of progress towards development cooperation commitments in the 2030 Agenda and Addis Ababa Action Agenda, through intensified knowledge sharing and mutual learning, and rooted in accountability of governments to their people.
This in turn will require increased resources and capacity support for robust national- and local-level monitoring and review of development cooperation commitments, supported by effective global and regional follow-up and review mechanisms.
Ladies and gentlemen,
These seven areas all address essential components of maximizing the potential of development cooperation in the SDG era. Let us have a frank and focused dialogue around these issues.
I wish the Forum great success full of invigorating and action-oriented deliberations.
Thank you.
File date:
Thursday, July 21, 2016