Minister Ahmed,
Ambassador Ostorio,
Executive Secretary Lopes,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to join you here in Addis Ababa.
On behalf of the United Nations, let me extend our deep appreciation to our host, the Government of Ethiopia.
Our thanks also go to ECA colleagues for their full support for this Conference.
We meet here right after the 50th Anniversary celebration of the formation of the Organization of African Unity, and during the year of Pan-Africanism, and the African Renaissance.
This is, therefore, a most fitting place to discuss cooperation, partnership and renewal.
Indeed, thanks to regional and international cooperation, we have helped developing countries, including in Africa, achieve a lot. Significant progress has been made in halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and the proportion of people without access to improved sources of drinking water.
The proportion of urban slum dwellers declined significantly.
Remarkable gains have been made in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis. There were visible improvements in all health areas as well as primary education. Despite these gains and intensified efforts in many developing countries, poverty and hunger still have a hold over large populations.
One in eight people worldwide remain hungry. Too many women die in childbirth. More than 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation facilities.
Our resource base is in serious decline, in a world already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Access to education and health care remain difficult for many, while inequality is on the rise.
Between now and 2015, our development efforts must therefore focus on accelerating implementation of the MDGs.
The global partnership for development, as reflected in MDG 8, has helped in promoting delivery by traditional donors.
These commitments relate to aid, trade, debt relief, and access to ICT and essential medicines.
But the world has changed since 2000. Existing and new challenges place a formidable burden on countries, developing and developed.
The diversity in sources, types and approaches of development finance, is growing fast.
In all regions, pressure among domestic constituents for real impact of development interventions on the ground, is growing.
And there is a mounting call for more coherence and effectiveness in development cooperation.
Within this environment, and in the context of preparations for a post-2015 development agenda, a strong global partnership for development is indispensible.
This global partnership should build on existing initiatives and should embrace support by development partners from North and South, as well as the private sector and civil society organizations.
They all have a decisive role to play in advancing a post-2015 development agenda.
Consultations so far suggest that the post-2015 agenda should aim at poverty eradication and have sustainable development at its centre.
This Symposium provides us with a unique opportunity to discuss in depth the parameters for a global partnership that matches the vision and ambition of the post-2015 development agenda.
Our focus here extends beyond the experience with MDG8 to the deeper and more extensive history of the global partnership for development, as set out in the Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
To effectively implement a post-2015 development agenda, a global partnership for development must adapt to the changed development landscape. It must reflect the shared responsibilities and different capabilities of the stakeholders.
A renewed global partnership for development must respond to a number of key issues. For example:
- What key features should a renewed global partnership have in order to support effective implementation of a post-2015 development agenda?
- How can we ensure that a renewed global partnership goes beyond resources mobilization, and promotes greater policy coherence between aid and non-aid policies?
- What could robust monitoring and accountability look like in this context, and how could it fully recognize the differentiated responsibilities and capabilities of development partners?
Excellencies,
The theme of this High-level Symposium could hardly be more topical.
I urge you to use this space to share your vision and strategic priorities, through informal and frank exchanges.
Let us also think about what role the Development Cooperation Forum can play in defining, and, subsequently, implementing a renewed global partnership for development.
The messages that will emanate from our deliberations will also be an important contribution to the deliberations on the post-2015 development agenda.
I wish you successful deliberations.
Thank you.