Excellencies, Colleagues, Dear friends,

We have passed the halfway mark between the adoption and finish line of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – and we find ourselves in trouble.

The world faces complex, interlinked crises across climate, energy, pollution, biodiversity, gender equality, human rights, finance, and costs of living.

Old conflicts are lingering, new conflicts are emerging, and development deficits are worsening.

At a time when we need development progress more than ever, the SDGs are issuing an “SOS”.

Our collective response must involve a major transformation in development cooperation.
 
This transformation should better protect the most vulnerable, especially during crises.

It should invest in people.

And it should ensure that development cooperation addresses not just urgent needs today, but also the needs of tomorrow. 

The Development Cooperation Forum plays a pivotal role in driving this transformation by acting on several fronts.

First, finance. We need to massively scale up affordable long-term development finance.

Official development assistance is irreplaceable in addressing multidimensional vulnerability and the rights of the most vulnerable. In the sprint to 2030, we urge all ODA providers to meet their commitments. If done today, this would provide over $150 billion per year in SDG financing.

Second, we need more local action on the ground. This means being guided by national development cooperation policies and Integrated National Financing Frameworks.

This means giving greater attention to specific needs while also investing in commonly agreed priorities – including climate adaptation, social protection, and digital transformation.

The UN Cooperation Framework is the place to bring these priorities together and forge a united partnership to realise national SDG priorities.

Finally, we need to work better together. Much stronger planning and coordination across development actors are crucial for high-impact, high-quality development cooperation.

We need to make a quantum leap in leveraging resources and partnerships across public development banks, the private sector, philanthropy, and South-South and triangular cooperation providers.

The repositioned UN development system is doing its part: increasing integration and coherence, leveraging the UN system’s comparative advantages and catalyzing joint delivery.

I call for your support and partnership to take this cooperation to the next level.

Thank you.