At the Spring Meetings in Washington, President Kutesa holds further bilateral meetings with several Ministers of Finance and Development Cooperation meets with the President of the World Bank and attends the Meeting of the Development Committee

New York, 18 April 2015

Meeting with the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation

President Kutesa met H.E. Mr. Sergei Anatolievich Storchak, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. The President and the Deputy Minister discussed the priorities of the 69th session, including the ongoing formulation of a transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda. They also highlighted the importance of ensuring a successful outcome from the Third Conference on Financing for Development (FFD) to be held on 13 to 16 July in Addis Ababa, with concrete deliverables to support the implementation of the new agenda. President Kutesa called for high-level participation at the upcoming FFD Conference.

The Russian Deputy Minister of Finance assured the President of the General Assembly of his country’s continued support for the goals of the United Nations and commitment to a successful FFD conference. They also exchanged views on sovereign debt mechanisms, debt management and alleviation, development cooperation and multilateral aid.

Meeting with the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands

President Kutesa also met with H.E. Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands. He thanked her for the Netherlands’ continued support to the work of the General Assembly. They discussed the ongoing formulation of a transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda and underscored the need to accompany it with adequate resources for its implementation.

President Kutesa and Minister Ploumen underlined the importance of ensuring successful outcomes from the FFD Conference in July, the Post-2015 Development Agenda in September and Climate Change in December. The Minister stressed her country’s determination to work toward the adoption of a universal climate change agreement at the COP21 Climate Conference in December in Paris. They underscored the importance of reinvigorating the global partnership for development.

The Minister underlined the importance of addressing the challenges of countries in special situations, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

 

Meeting with the Minister of International Development of Canada

President Kutesa also met with H.E. Mr. Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development of Canada.

The PGA thanked the Minister for Canada’s support to the goals of the United Nations. The President of the General Assembly and the Canadian Minister exchanged views on important issues on the agenda of the 69th session of the General Assembly, including the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its implementation. The PGA and the Minister concurred on the need for high-level participation and a successful outcome from the Addis Ababa Conference.

President Kutesa and Minister Paradis concurred on the need for securing the necessary means and a comprehensive financing framework that would yield concrete results and contribute to achieve sustainable development.

Meeting with the Minister of Finance of South Africa

President Kutesa met with H.E. Mr. Nhlanhla Musa Nene, Minister of Finance of South Africa. They discussed important issues on the agenda of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, including development and climate change financing.

The President and the Minister also addressed the formulation of an ambitious and transformative agenda, with poverty eradication and achievement of sustainable development as its overarching objectives. They highlighted the importance of ensuring a successful outcome from the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa.

President Kutesa and Minister Nene also exchanged views on international and regional issues.

Meeting with the President of the World Bank

President Kutesa met with H.E. Mr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank. The PGA welcomed the Bank’s engagement and contribution in preparation for the upcoming FFD Conference. They exchanged views on the Joint Note prepared by the World Bank, IMF and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) entitled “From Billions to Trillions: Transforming Development Finance: Post-2015 development financing for Development.” They discussed the importance of eradicating extreme poverty and ensuring that the upcoming FFD Conference is successful in order to support the implementation of a transformative and sustainable development agenda.

They also exchanged views on the importance of mobilizing resources for sustainable development and climate change financing from all sources public and private, domestic and international. The PGA and the World Bank President underscored the need to strengthen partnerships.

Meeting of the Development Committee

On the same day, President Kutesa attended the World Bank/IMF Joint Ministerial Development Committee. For the first time both the President of the UN General Assembly and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon attended the Development Committee. In addition to the President of the World Bank and the Executive Boards of the Bank and the Fund, other participants included Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of IMF and Heads of Regional Development Banks.

Participants stressed that 2015 is a historic year and noted the value and timeliness of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank, ahead of the FFD Conference next July in Addis Ababa, which, as President Kutesa stressed throughout his bilateral meetings over the past two days in Washington DC, present a unique opportunity for a paradigm shift that would contribute to poverty eradication, improvement of livelihoods of people everywhere, and achievement of sustainable development.