– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
25 February 2021
His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
His Excellency Mr. Munir Akram, 76th President of the Economic and Social Council,
His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim Mayaki, former Prime Minister of Niger, FACTI Panel Co-chair,
Her Excellency Ms. Dalia Grybauskaite, former President of Lithuania, FACTI Panel Co-chair,
Ms. Maryam Nemazee,
Excellencies,
Thank you for joining us this morning at the launch of the ‘Report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda’.
Allow me to express my sincere appreciation to the Panel and to our Co-Chairs for their continued work to address critical areas of the Addis Ababa
Action Agenda for Financing and Development. A great deal of analytical work was undertaken in the process of developing this report and the insights it offers are invaluable to our shared agenda.
I would also like to acknowledge the foresight of the former PGA and the former President of ECOSOC for prioritizing Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda, and for setting the wheels in motion for this High-Level Panel.
As an international community committed to addressing inequality and advancing sustainable development, we must put in place the very principles of transparency, sound governance, and accountability that we so often champion. Failure to do so denies vulnerable people access to basic infrastructure and services and condemns them to a life of inequality and poverty.
Excellencies,
Financial integrity is paramount to the success of the 2030 Agenda, and the Panel’s report proposes a blueprint to address the critical challenges that stand in the way of progress, particularly the issue of illicit financial flows.
These efforts are all the more important in light of the ongoing pandemic. Developing countries could not afford to lose resources during the best of times and they certainly cannot afford to now, in the midst of the COVID crisis.
As an international community committed to addressing inequality and advancing sustainable development, we must put in place the very principles of transparency, sound governance, and accountability that we so often champion. Failure to do so denies vulnerable people access to basic infrastructure and services and condemns them to a life of inequality and poverty.
In this regard, I welcome the approach developed by the FACTI Panel, which builds on decades of work by countries and the UN and proposes a new system to foster fairness, accountability and integrity in the financial system for sustainable development.
I also welcome the 14 recommendations of the FACTI Panel and express confidence that – if duly implemented – they can advance progress towards achieving Agenda 2030.
Excellencies, in closing, allow me to emphasize that none of us stand to benefit from failure to act; the onus is on each of us to put in place a system of financial integrity for sustainable development. Doing so not only frees up resources that would otherwise be lost, but builds trust in our international, national and local systems of governance, demonstrating transparency, accountability and the ability to deliver on the 2030 Agenda.
I would like to once again thank the Panel and the Co-Chairs, as well as call on all Member States to take note of the recommendations of the report, and to implement the necessary policy actions, including in light of the General Assembly Special Session on corruption to take place from 2-4 June.
Thank you.
