Dear colleagues,
I am very pleased to welcome you to the sixth meeting of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development. I am very proud of the work the Task Force has accomplished since I took over as its Chair last year. The 2018 report of the Task Force was very well received and appreciated by Member States. It formed the basis of the intergovernmental agreement that crowned a successful ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum in April.
That success is possible thanks to your dedication and collaboration. The Task Force is a model. It demonstrated how the international system can work together to support Member States as they progress towards achievement of the ambitious vision that they have set for 2030.
I have called this meeting today to formally begin the preparations for the Task Force’s 2019 report, the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report.
At the last FfD Forum, Member States demonstrated their trust in the Task Force by mandating it to produce work on eleven specific areas in the 2019 report. We have shared a list of these requests with you. Some of the mandates already have well-organised inter-agency processes associated with them. Others will require the Task Force to innovate, find ways for the agencies to pool data and knowledge, and develop shared analysis and recommendations. We look forward to making this happen, and welcome proposals from all of you about how to advance this work further.
In addition, in 2018, the General Assembly requested that there be a joint meeting of its Second Committee with ECOSOC to discuss the planned thematic analysis for the 2019 and 2020 report. DESA, joined by the major institutional stakeholders, briefed Member States on our plans last week and received positive feedback.
The five SDGs to be reviewed at the 2019 HLPF, on inequality, climate change, education, decent work, and peace and institutions are multifaceted and complicated. As such, they are not suited to be treated together in a single chapter.
DESA will work with the Task Force to ensure that the 5 SDGs are covered throughout the Financing for Sustainable Development Report. We will highlight this analysis in boxes in the early parts of the report. As in previous years, we will also ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment has both standalone analysis and is mainstreamed throughout the report.
As we discussed at our last meeting, the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report’s thematic chapter will focus on integrated national financing frameworks for the SDGs. The chapter will(i) identify the building blocks of national financing frameworks for the SDGs;(ii) propose actions for developing and integrating these building blocks into effective financing strategies; and(iii) map out available support measures from the international community.
I encourage interested agencies to participate in the upcoming October 30 technical meeting of the Task Force to further work on this chapter.
For the 2020 report, the tentative proposal is that the thematic chapter will focus on the impact of new and emerging technologies on development financing. If you have not yet studied the concept note shared with Member States, I encourage all agencies to read it carefully.
Throughout the report, we want to include more case studies, to ensure that it is grounded in emerging practices and lessons learned at the country level. We strongly encourage the Task Force partners to think of the report as a place to showcase lessons learned, including ones that you may have already published. However, it could also usefully inform a broader audience through the Financing for Sustainable Development Report and the 2019 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum.
Colleagues,
The Task Force has already become an important exercise in generating coherence within the UN system on financing issues. It brings together research and analysis from across the UN agencies and non-UN institutions that are Task Force members. The five major institutional stakeholders continue to be actively engaged in the analytical work. This ensures that the Financing for Development process strengthens the partnership between the UN and the IFIs and the WTO.
The Task Force’s work can also be a guiding framework for the newly reformed UN Development System and UN Country Teams. The global inter-agency analytical work will complement and reinforce national-level efforts to support countries as they develop national financing frameworks for the SDGs. Indeed, this has helped motivate the proposed structure of the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report.
At the same time, we should be clear that the Task Force’s work is being produced in a global environment with escalating tensions and risks. The future direction of the world trade system, as well as the climate agreement, are in doubt. Some large emerging market countries are experiencing financial market and exchange rate pressures not seen since the early years of the century.
These crises set back efforts to achieve the SDGs. If the current financial market stress in those countries spreads more broadly, the progress of hundreds of millions of people could be at risk. Our report should respond to this challenge, and generate relevant analysis and policy options for Member States.
Finally, I wish to reiterate that DESA welcomes your feedback and guidance for our work going forward. The Task Force has become a lively platform for inter-agency collaboration on financing for development issues. We welcome you to take initiatives to organise meetings and substantive discussions under the aegis of this Task Force.
My team in DESA are ready to work with you to take advantage of this infrastructure whenever the combined analytical capacity of the UN system on financing issues can be of service.
The director of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office, Mr. Navid Hanif will expand on the details for the next steps for the Task Force for the 2018-2019 cycle.
I look forward to the continued collaboration of the agencies that are members of the Task Force.
Thank you.
I am very pleased to welcome you to the sixth meeting of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development. I am very proud of the work the Task Force has accomplished since I took over as its Chair last year. The 2018 report of the Task Force was very well received and appreciated by Member States. It formed the basis of the intergovernmental agreement that crowned a successful ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum in April.
That success is possible thanks to your dedication and collaboration. The Task Force is a model. It demonstrated how the international system can work together to support Member States as they progress towards achievement of the ambitious vision that they have set for 2030.
I have called this meeting today to formally begin the preparations for the Task Force’s 2019 report, the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report.
At the last FfD Forum, Member States demonstrated their trust in the Task Force by mandating it to produce work on eleven specific areas in the 2019 report. We have shared a list of these requests with you. Some of the mandates already have well-organised inter-agency processes associated with them. Others will require the Task Force to innovate, find ways for the agencies to pool data and knowledge, and develop shared analysis and recommendations. We look forward to making this happen, and welcome proposals from all of you about how to advance this work further.
In addition, in 2018, the General Assembly requested that there be a joint meeting of its Second Committee with ECOSOC to discuss the planned thematic analysis for the 2019 and 2020 report. DESA, joined by the major institutional stakeholders, briefed Member States on our plans last week and received positive feedback.
The five SDGs to be reviewed at the 2019 HLPF, on inequality, climate change, education, decent work, and peace and institutions are multifaceted and complicated. As such, they are not suited to be treated together in a single chapter.
DESA will work with the Task Force to ensure that the 5 SDGs are covered throughout the Financing for Sustainable Development Report. We will highlight this analysis in boxes in the early parts of the report. As in previous years, we will also ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment has both standalone analysis and is mainstreamed throughout the report.
As we discussed at our last meeting, the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report’s thematic chapter will focus on integrated national financing frameworks for the SDGs. The chapter will(i) identify the building blocks of national financing frameworks for the SDGs;(ii) propose actions for developing and integrating these building blocks into effective financing strategies; and(iii) map out available support measures from the international community.
I encourage interested agencies to participate in the upcoming October 30 technical meeting of the Task Force to further work on this chapter.
For the 2020 report, the tentative proposal is that the thematic chapter will focus on the impact of new and emerging technologies on development financing. If you have not yet studied the concept note shared with Member States, I encourage all agencies to read it carefully.
Throughout the report, we want to include more case studies, to ensure that it is grounded in emerging practices and lessons learned at the country level. We strongly encourage the Task Force partners to think of the report as a place to showcase lessons learned, including ones that you may have already published. However, it could also usefully inform a broader audience through the Financing for Sustainable Development Report and the 2019 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum.
Colleagues,
The Task Force has already become an important exercise in generating coherence within the UN system on financing issues. It brings together research and analysis from across the UN agencies and non-UN institutions that are Task Force members. The five major institutional stakeholders continue to be actively engaged in the analytical work. This ensures that the Financing for Development process strengthens the partnership between the UN and the IFIs and the WTO.
The Task Force’s work can also be a guiding framework for the newly reformed UN Development System and UN Country Teams. The global inter-agency analytical work will complement and reinforce national-level efforts to support countries as they develop national financing frameworks for the SDGs. Indeed, this has helped motivate the proposed structure of the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report.
At the same time, we should be clear that the Task Force’s work is being produced in a global environment with escalating tensions and risks. The future direction of the world trade system, as well as the climate agreement, are in doubt. Some large emerging market countries are experiencing financial market and exchange rate pressures not seen since the early years of the century.
These crises set back efforts to achieve the SDGs. If the current financial market stress in those countries spreads more broadly, the progress of hundreds of millions of people could be at risk. Our report should respond to this challenge, and generate relevant analysis and policy options for Member States.
Finally, I wish to reiterate that DESA welcomes your feedback and guidance for our work going forward. The Task Force has become a lively platform for inter-agency collaboration on financing for development issues. We welcome you to take initiatives to organise meetings and substantive discussions under the aegis of this Task Force.
My team in DESA are ready to work with you to take advantage of this infrastructure whenever the combined analytical capacity of the UN system on financing issues can be of service.
The director of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office, Mr. Navid Hanif will expand on the details for the next steps for the Task Force for the 2018-2019 cycle.
I look forward to the continued collaboration of the agencies that are members of the Task Force.
Thank you.
File date:
Friday, September 21, 2018