New York
UN
Deputy Secretary-General's opening remarks at the 2018 High-Level Meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum [as prepared for delivery]
Statements | Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
Statements | Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
Your Excellency, Ms. Marie Chatardová, President of the Economic and Social Council,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the sixth High-level Meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum. I extend my warm greetings from the Secretary-General to everyone here in New York, and to those joining us around the world.
We all agree that development cooperation is central in delivering the ambitious 2030 Agenda.
We are here to turn promises into action.
This forum is about bringing greater clarity and building stronger partnerships for the steps we can take together to ensure that development cooperation plays a more strategic and effective role in implementing the 2030 Agenda.
We have seen some remarkable advances. But we still have a far road to travel to build sustainable and resilient societies, leaving no one behind.
Today 767 million people still live on less than 1.90 US dollars a day.
Globally, about 793 million people are undernourished.
More than 300,000 women died during pregnancy or childbirth and 5.9 million children under age 5 died worldwide in 2015. Most of these deaths were preventable.
Gender inequality is still deeply entrenched, and women and girls still face violence in all societies.
Young people continue to face alarmingly high rates of unemployment, and their voices are not sufficiently heard.
Nine per cent of primary-school-aged children worldwide were out of school in 2014. Quality education needs to be brought within reach of all.
More than 2 billion people are living in countries with excess water stress.
More progress is needed towards sustainable energy, and greater investments in sustainable infrastructure.
Nine out of 10 city dwellers are living in cities where air pollution is a health hazard.
Planetary warming continues unabated, contributing to economic losses caused by natural hazards of as much as 300 billion dollars a year.
Distinguished participants,
Our actions must be guided by our commitment to leave no one behind.
Today, still too little ODA is going to LDCs and countries with special situations. Other sources of development finance, such as blended finance, are largely bypassing them. That needs to change.
Development partners must make meeting ODA commitments and enhancing its quality a priority, while working together with governments and stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of ODA.
Targeted action is needed in all our development cooperation efforts to remove barriers that keep women, youth, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, refugees and other vulnerable groups on the margins of society.
Leaving no one behind is critical to ensure a life in dignity for all – to defend against rising populism and violent extremism -- and to sustain peace
While governments must take the lead, they cannot alone deliver the ambitious vision of the 2030 Agenda.
We need to do more to foster partnerships and facilitate alignment of institutions, policies and actions with the 2030 Agenda.
This is a core message and strength of this Forum.
Engaging the private sector is critical to achieving the needed innovation, capacity building, technology development and transfer and dramatically scaled up investment.
Three years into the new agenda, diverse efforts offer much for us to learn, particularly on how to do this best in different contexts.
Done right, multi-stakeholder partnerships can help deliver better and more sustainable development results. They can take inclusiveness to a new level.
Blended financing has huge potential. We however need to ensure that efforts of public-private partnerships or investment agreements are accompanied and grounded by solid legal, regulatory frameworks, transparent fiscal accounting, and adequate risk management measures.
Nearly every country in the global South is engaged in South-South cooperation. Solutions and strategies created in the South are delivering lasting results around the world.
The Buenos Aires Plan of Action provided a blueprint, with a well-defined mechanism for implementation and follow-up.
The High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation to be hosted by Argentina next year will take stock and seek to establish sustainable strategies for further scaling up South-South cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ladies and gentlemen,
To realize the transformative ambition of the 2030 Agenda, more focused and strategic action is needed from all of us.
This is why we have embarked on repositioning the UN Development System to promote the coherence, effectiveness and accountability of our results at the country level.
In doing so, it will be critical to increase the system’s capacities to support the 2030 Agenda and its requirement of action and financing at unprecedented scale.
We are also committed to enhance the UN’s partnership approach at all levels, to help developing countries mobilize the resources, expertise and technologies necessary to achieve the SDGs in a way that leaves no one behind.
Over these next two days, I encourage you to reflect together on how development cooperation can best help in achieving the 2030 Agenda.
I wish you a productive meeting and look forward to your collective contributions to help turn promises into action.
Thank you.
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the sixth High-level Meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum. I extend my warm greetings from the Secretary-General to everyone here in New York, and to those joining us around the world.
We all agree that development cooperation is central in delivering the ambitious 2030 Agenda.
We are here to turn promises into action.
This forum is about bringing greater clarity and building stronger partnerships for the steps we can take together to ensure that development cooperation plays a more strategic and effective role in implementing the 2030 Agenda.
We have seen some remarkable advances. But we still have a far road to travel to build sustainable and resilient societies, leaving no one behind.
Today 767 million people still live on less than 1.90 US dollars a day.
Globally, about 793 million people are undernourished.
More than 300,000 women died during pregnancy or childbirth and 5.9 million children under age 5 died worldwide in 2015. Most of these deaths were preventable.
Gender inequality is still deeply entrenched, and women and girls still face violence in all societies.
Young people continue to face alarmingly high rates of unemployment, and their voices are not sufficiently heard.
Nine per cent of primary-school-aged children worldwide were out of school in 2014. Quality education needs to be brought within reach of all.
More than 2 billion people are living in countries with excess water stress.
More progress is needed towards sustainable energy, and greater investments in sustainable infrastructure.
Nine out of 10 city dwellers are living in cities where air pollution is a health hazard.
Planetary warming continues unabated, contributing to economic losses caused by natural hazards of as much as 300 billion dollars a year.
Distinguished participants,
Our actions must be guided by our commitment to leave no one behind.
Today, still too little ODA is going to LDCs and countries with special situations. Other sources of development finance, such as blended finance, are largely bypassing them. That needs to change.
Development partners must make meeting ODA commitments and enhancing its quality a priority, while working together with governments and stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of ODA.
Targeted action is needed in all our development cooperation efforts to remove barriers that keep women, youth, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, refugees and other vulnerable groups on the margins of society.
Leaving no one behind is critical to ensure a life in dignity for all – to defend against rising populism and violent extremism -- and to sustain peace
While governments must take the lead, they cannot alone deliver the ambitious vision of the 2030 Agenda.
We need to do more to foster partnerships and facilitate alignment of institutions, policies and actions with the 2030 Agenda.
This is a core message and strength of this Forum.
Engaging the private sector is critical to achieving the needed innovation, capacity building, technology development and transfer and dramatically scaled up investment.
Three years into the new agenda, diverse efforts offer much for us to learn, particularly on how to do this best in different contexts.
Done right, multi-stakeholder partnerships can help deliver better and more sustainable development results. They can take inclusiveness to a new level.
Blended financing has huge potential. We however need to ensure that efforts of public-private partnerships or investment agreements are accompanied and grounded by solid legal, regulatory frameworks, transparent fiscal accounting, and adequate risk management measures.
Nearly every country in the global South is engaged in South-South cooperation. Solutions and strategies created in the South are delivering lasting results around the world.
The Buenos Aires Plan of Action provided a blueprint, with a well-defined mechanism for implementation and follow-up.
The High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation to be hosted by Argentina next year will take stock and seek to establish sustainable strategies for further scaling up South-South cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ladies and gentlemen,
To realize the transformative ambition of the 2030 Agenda, more focused and strategic action is needed from all of us.
This is why we have embarked on repositioning the UN Development System to promote the coherence, effectiveness and accountability of our results at the country level.
In doing so, it will be critical to increase the system’s capacities to support the 2030 Agenda and its requirement of action and financing at unprecedented scale.
We are also committed to enhance the UN’s partnership approach at all levels, to help developing countries mobilize the resources, expertise and technologies necessary to achieve the SDGs in a way that leaves no one behind.
Over these next two days, I encourage you to reflect together on how development cooperation can best help in achieving the 2030 Agenda.
I wish you a productive meeting and look forward to your collective contributions to help turn promises into action.
Thank you.