– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
18 December 2020
H.E. Pascale Baeriswyl, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations,
Ms. Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director, UN Global Compact,
Excellencies,
I thank you for the opportunity to address the gathering of the Group of Friends of the UN Global Compact. I would like to extend my appreciation to the Permanent Mission of Switzerland for organizing this timely discussion, as well as commend the Global Compact on its leadership in advancing public and private partnerships.
These partnerships are required now more than ever.
COVID-19 has been a massive setback to sustainable development. Progress continues to be eroded on health, education, women’s rights, and poverty reduction, to name a few; and our near singular focus on the pandemic means that other global priorities, such as addressing climate change, have not been sufficiently addressed.
We cannot and should not allow this to happen. With a visionary approach and with the political will to make it happen, we can ensure that recovery from the pandemic is inspired – and fueled – by the SDGs.
This is where the role of the UN Global Compact becomes so critical.
In its role as convener, the Global Compact can help facilitate cooperation between the public and private sectors, and ensure that efforts simultaneously support achievement of the 2030 Agenda and a thorough response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initiatives such as the 2030 Agenda Partnership Accelerator and the newly founded COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility are prime examples of this.
A sustainable recovery from COVID-19 requires an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach. We must mobilize the full power of humanity if we are to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Global Compact must be a part of this process and must help build and foster the partnerships needed.
Excellencies,
Let me be clear. We will not achieve the SDGs by 2030 if we do not reach the targets of SDG 5 and achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.
Through the Women’s Empowerment Principles, the UN Global Compact has underscored the need for an engaged private sector in removing economic barriers to women’s full participation in the marketplace. In doing so, the Global Compact has drawn upon platforms, audiences and partnerships that the UN is often challenged to engage with. Their work with a vast network of women business leaders has accelerated inclusive employment, from women’s workforce development, to providing loans and support to women-owned businesses.
Let me assure you, when it comes to SDG 5 the UN Global Compact does not just talk the talk. Indeed, Ms. Ojiambo is a key member of the newly established Gender Advisory Group and provides strategic advice to help advance the work of the General Assembly on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
This will be particularly relevant during upcoming mandated events in 2021, including the High-Level Meeting on Middle-Income Countries and the Thematic Debate on Least Developed Countries. These meetings will help outline critical support required from the private sector to countries as they recover from the global pandemic. Twenty-five years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Programme for Action, we simply must recognize that none of us can advance if we leave women and girls behind.
Indeed, we cannot afford to leave anyone behind. A sustainable recovery from COVID-19 requires an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach. We must mobilize the full power of humanity if we are to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Global Compact must be a part of this process and must help build and foster the partnerships needed. This will help unlock resources, of course, but also ensure that policies and programmes in both streams are aligned towards the same common goals.
I would like to thank Member States for engaging in negotiation around a number of resolutions relevant to partnerships during the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. Notably, the “Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system” (QCPR), “Promoting Investments for Sustainable Development”, and “Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development”, which all refer to the importance of partnerships, due diligence, accountability and
transparency. I extend a special ‘thank you’ to Switzerland for a skillful facilitation of the QCPR.
I thank you once again for the opportunity to speak and I look forward to hearing from the members of this group in the future on how private-public collaboration can be strengthened and advanced.
I wish you all the best during this very important meeting. And I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let us have a better year ahead.
