Remarks by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem during the SDG Action Weekend Closing Plenary

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Dear colleagues, dear friends, dear young people,

It’s a pleasure here with you at the end of an incredible day of commitment and energy.

As the Secretary-General reminded us yesterday: 

“The SDGs are not about checking boxes. They’re about the hopes, dreams, rights and expectations of people and the health of our natural environment.” 

And it is our collective responsibility as leaders and actors from government, civil society, youth, the United Nations system and more to meet those expectations.

I have been given the unenviable task of summarizing what emerged from this inspiring and rich acceleration day.

12 high-impact initiatives. 2 Special Events on Gender equality and SDG Digitalization and a special session on a crucial issue: Development in complex settings.

In each of the sessions today, we bore witness to a powerful, multi-stakeholder dialogue.

We faced head-on the scale of the challenge ahead of us.

And we saw commitments, leadership and pathways towards the solutions and action that are urgently needed.

I will not attempt to capture the full breadth of what emerged but let me instead try to give you a flavor.

We saw eight member states announce concrete plans to drive the energy transitions that are so urgent and so critical to our battle against climate change.

We heard how we are not just using nature – but using up nature – and saw several countries highlight concrete economic policies that are anchored in preserving nature for the benefit of all.

Building on July’s Food Systems Summit Stocktake, we heard from countries that are moving forward with their food systems transformation pathways with the right combination of financing, data, and political support.

The urgency of investing in students and teachers was emphasized, and new UN tools unveiled to support member states to deliver on the commitments they made at last year's Transforming Education Summit.

Seven countries announced their progress towards developing decent jobs and social protection through the Global Accelerator, including Malawi, Namibia, and Indonesia, which announced tangible new roadmaps and policies in that area.

And finally, right here in ECOSOC, we saw the launch of the SDG Digital Acceleration Agenda, the presentation of two digital use cases for each SDG, and new pledges from the ITU and Inter-American Development Bank to further digital solutions and the need for action on digital public infrastructure.

 

Dear friends,

Actions across these transitions can unleash the progress at scale that can rescue the SDGs, but those transitions simply will not materialize without an unlocking of greater solidarity, investment, and support, especially for developing countries.

And here too we saw progress today.

Ministers from Angola, Kenya, Malawi, and Germany shared the power of a whole-of-government approach to expanding a country’s productive capacities, and a new initiative was announced by UNCTAD to strengthen the UN’s support to countries in this area.

A recurring theme throughout the weekend: effective institutions and multilevel governance.

We heard about the Local 2030 Coalition and the fundamental ways in which local governments and their partners are driving the SDGs.

The Power of Data session in which my own agency, UNFPA, participated, saw 15 national data partnerships announced to revolutionize decision-making.

We also saw examples of progress by countries in the often underappreciated area of public sector transformation.

Finally, we took another step forward towards unlocking the SDG Stimulus that can make at least $500 billion dollars available annually to developing countries.

Here, leaders from the Global North and Global South came together with multi-lateral development banks to find ways to make progress on critical issues of Special Drawing Rights, Debt, and the reform of the multilateral development banks.

Now is the time to make a great leap forward in this area.

 

Dear friends,

We were also reminded, during the lunch session, that we cannot wait until violence, disaster, and humanitarian crises are done to begin development.

As a critical example to lead us through the next 7 years in complex settings, an Emergency Development Response for Chad was launched by a diverse group of partners.

Finally, we cannot accelerate progress for all by leaving half the world’s population behind. Gender equality is the foundation for achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and it will remain out of reach until every woman and girl lives free from violence.

As Executive Director of UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, which works with partners to put a decisive end to gender-based violence, it was heartening to see the strong commitments made today, including Spotlight Initiative’s goal to operate in more than 60 countries by 2030 and provide technical assistance to many more, building on its strong track record of success.

And today’s special session for the Midpoint Moment of Generation Equality brought together representatives from the whole of society to disrupt entrenched and rising global gender inequality through enhanced funding, policy reforms, data tracking, and inclusive partnerships, especially with adolescent girls and young women leaders.

 

Excellencies, dear friends,

Today was a day for all partners to come together around what it will take to drive acceleration.

This was especially the case for the UN development system, which was the backbone of these sessions. As a group of partners, we are ready for the second half. We are pushing forward, and we look forward to working with you on the ground to turn the to-do list from this week into action.

We have our marching orders: Accelerate, innovate, collaborate, and lead!

Adelante!

Thank you.