– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
24 September 2020
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased to be able to join you today at the launch of the interim report.
I thank the panel for presenting these initial findings and recommendations, which my office will review carefully.
Excellencies,
Illicit financial flows greatly diminish resources for investment in sustainable development and public service delivery.
An absence of transparency and accountability sharpen inequalities and erode human rights.
And women, children, poor and vulnerable populations suffer most when this occurs.
These issues are particularly challenging when you consider our efforts to recover from COVID-19, and our 10-year challenge to achieve the SDGs.
The pandemic has further exposed and underscored the systemic challenges, such as those in the report, that delay or impede our ability to deliver
Creating a global economic system characterized by financial accountability, transparency, and integrity will bring enormous benefits to efforts to achieve the SDGs – all the more pressing under the shadow of COVID-19
Excellencies, we have a lot of ground to make up.
Strengthening our collective efforts to enhance financial accountability, transparency and integrity is critical to accelerating action and financing the SDGs.
Next year, the UN General Assembly will convene a special session on corruption. We must begin these conversations now.
I trust that the FACTI Panel’s analysis provided today, and the final recommendations to be presented next year, will contribute to the dialogue on the special session.
We must also remember, to contribute to the Global Goals we need action on existing commitments.
The poorest and most vulnerable need all actors – governments, the public sector, business, and fellow citizens – to live up to their commitments and to contribute to achievement of our global goals.
My Presidency supports this – and will promote the use of emerging technologies, and data, for result-oriented action.
The use of technologies will be critical to make our global financial system and digital economy work for sustainable development. This will help strengthen both trust and transparency in finance for development.
On this point, I am glad to hear that the FACTI Panel’s interim report discusses both resources for sustainable development and the importance of the social contract.
Finally, I have also stated that a priority of my Presidency will be recommitting to, and strengthening, multilateralism.
In the economic and financial field, illicit financial flows are a prominent example of a global challenge that requires multilateral solutions.
The FACTI Panel has highlighted this important point in its Interim Report.
Strengthening international cooperation in tackling tax abuses, money-laundering, and corruption must be at the top of our agendas.
Excellencies,
I will be following the next stage of the FACTI Panel’s work with great interest.
Creating a global economic system characterized by financial accountability, transparency, and integrity will bring enormous benefits to efforts to achieve the SDGs – all the more pressing under the shadow of COVID-19.
I look forward to future discussions on these issues in the General Assembly.
And I hope that the international community recognizes today’s report as a first step towards greater financial accountability, transparency and integrity.
I thank you all.
