Delivered by Mr. Wu Hongbo,Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs
I thank President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Government and people of Kenya for hosting this high-level meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. I am pleased to see the focus of this meeting on supporting the inclusive and accelerated implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
The 2030 Agenda demands a new way of looking at sustainable development.
We need concerted efforts at the country level to transition from sectoral to more integrated approaches and to localize the Sustainable Development Goals. There is no single blue print. No country has ever fully achieved sustainable development. With the 2030 Agenda, world leaders have embraced this reality and committed to bring global solidarity, international cooperation and collective action to new heights.
Strong country ownership and government leadership will be essential.
It is especially important for national leaders to pursue a synergistic approach to the SDGs, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the climate actions spelled out in the Paris Agreement and the recently-agreed New Urban Agenda. Member States must fast-track policy reforms and strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Broad stakeholder engagement is essential. The concerns and priorities of marginalized and vulnerable groups must be taken into account, from planning to monitoring. I commend governments, civil society organizations, parliamentarians, women’s groups, young people, trade unionists, the business community and all other constituencies that are collaborating in these processes.
I would like to highlight four critical challenges.
First, leaving no one behind means directing targeted assistance to those farthest behind first, and providing sufficient resources and support to countries and communities with the least resources and weakest capacity. The Addis Agenda stresses the value of Official Development Assistance, especially for least-developed-countries, land-locked developing countries, small island developing states and countries affected by conflict and fragility. Regrettably, ODA has been stagnant, and the share of ODA allocated to the poorest and most vulnerable countries remains too low.
In this second year of implementation, it is time to discuss how to increase ODA, capacity support and technology transfer, and how to ensure policy coherence.
Second, we have to further identify ways to leverage development cooperation to tap all available financing.
Third, we need to create incentives for the full range of development cooperation actors to align their approaches with the 2030 Agenda.
Fourth, we need better information on development cooperation and its impact.
This meeting is an opportunity to reiterate your commitments to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
With its efforts in country-level monitoring, the GPEDC can help bring lessons learned into the relevant review processes, including through the Economic and Social Council and its forums, such as the High-level Political Forum, the Financing for Development Forum and the Development Cooperation Forum.
Effective development cooperation is critical to the realization of sustainable development and the great global effort to build a future of dignity for all. I wish you productive deliberations and a fruitful outcome.
File date:
Wednesday, November 30, 2016