H. E. Patricia Scotland, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

In the past two years, there has been an unprecedented increase in all forms of gender-based violence – particularly in the home, but also in public and online spaces.

It is only right that we stand up for a moment of silence for these victims and survivors.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly one in two women reported that they, or a woman they know, experienced some form of violence.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are at the mid-point between COP 26 and 27.

The Glasgow Climate Pact, the main outcome of COP 26, laid bare huge gaps on mitigation, on finance and on adaptation as well as the actions that needed to be taken over the course of the coming years to close these gaps through just transitions.

Let us be frank, almost 6 months after Glasgow, we are off track.

Thank you Chair. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
I am delighted to be here and to contribute tothis important Commonwealth gathering, with so many friends and colleagues in person, at this critical moment in our world.
 
The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, adopted nearly seven years ago, grew out of the belief that sustainable and inclusive development—the topic of today’s session—is the only durable development.
 
We’re almost to the halfway point of the Agenda.
 

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Your Excellency, President Paul Kagame,
Honorable Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to be with you today for the opening of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development.

We are meeting at a crucial time when our ability to achieve the goals we set ourselves in the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 hangs in the balance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought havoc to our societies and economies.

Hunger and poverty are increasing for the first time in a generation.