Video Message
Bali, Indonesia
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honored to join you at this High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Development.
Today, we gather to discuss how we can work together more effectively, more inclusively, and more powerfully to tackle the global challenges we face, and to speed up our progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The world is now off track to achieving the SDGs.
Current projections estimate that almost 600 million people will live in extreme poverty in 2030, more than half of them women.
2023 was the hottest year on record by a significant margin, and fossil fuel use reached a record high.
Financing challenges are at the heart of this sustainable development crisis.
Financing gaps are widening. Developing countries do not have access to affordable financing at anywhere near the required scale. Budget allocations, investments, national and international policy frameworks and governance arrangements are still not fully aligned with the SDGs.
Several ideas and proposals are being put forward to address these challenges and transform financing to rescue the SDGs.
To deliver on these ideas and proposals, we need a reinvigorated multilateral system, centered on collaboration and trust.
The time is now to choose whether to succeed together or to fail together. But the message is clear - failure is not an option.
We must rally around ambitious reforms.
This High-Level Forum provides a timely opportunity to reflect on critical aspects of such reforms, particularly in the three thematic areas of focus: advancing development through innovative financing; enhancing welfare and sustainability through sustainable economy; and multi-stakeholder partnerships for strengthening South-South and Triangular cooperation.
First, innovative financing, designed and delivered well, with a focus on development impact, can help tap new resources and broaden the overall envelope of financing available to deliver the much-needed SDG investment push, including in least developed countries.
Second, building a sustainable economy should mean more than just protecting the environment. It should be about incorporating all dimensions of sustainability in policy choices across sectors and geographies, to ensure we create economies that benefit everyone, everywhere, without compromising our collective future.
Third, the volume and reach of South-South and Triangular cooperation have been growing significantly, with the COVID-19 pandemic illustrating the transformative potential of South-South cooperation in particular. Ongoing efforts to strengthen the measurement of these flows at national, regional and global levels are vital to ensure their effectiveness can be further strengthened.
Consideration of these three focus areas should be in the context of upcoming global discussions including at the Summit of the Future in coming September, and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit on Social Development in 2025.
I am confident that today’s discussions will contribute to strengthening the spirit of global partnership and solidarity required to rescue the SDGs.
I wish you a successful forum and look forward to receiving the outcome of your discussions.
Thank you!