Technology Facilitation Mechanism for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals Vital Tool in ‘Promise to Leave No One Behind’, Says Deputy Secretary-General

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the side event on the launching of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals, in New York today:

I am glad to take part on behalf of the Secretary-General, in this important gathering.  I thank the Governments of Brazil and France for hosting this event.  I welcome partners from business, civil society and the scientific community present here today.

Yesterday, leaders adopted a new vision, a new road map, for sustainable development for the next 15 years — the 2030 Agenda.  Today, we start the crucial process of turning vision and goals into reality.

The transformative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will only be meaningful once we start implementing and working in a determined way in our own countries to reach them.  That is why we have come together to launch the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, very much the result of efforts by Member States and in particular Brazilian and French friends and colleagues during this journey.

There is much momentum in this area.  New global innovators are emerging.  Patterns of technology are shifting.  Joint projects are bringing together experts from different regions and specialities with the common goal of sustainable development.

I generally encourage everyone to leave the vertical approach behind and get out of our silos.  To succeed we must use a horizontal approach.

We welcome this progress, but let us recognize that the poorest and smallest economies still have only limited participation in the “knowledge economy”.

This Mechanism should foster greater technological cooperation for development which will have beneficial and important effects on many of the new goals.  Let us remember that the SDGs are universal and interrelated, and should be inclusive and integrated.

Across the UN system, we are already working to help countries harness the benefits of science, technology and innovation for development.

Now we have a collective responsibility to intensify this cooperation.  The SDGs rightly call for collaboration among the United Nations, Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community and others so that we leave no one behind.

This Mechanism is the first major UN initiative stemming from the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development in July.  We must be committed to its success.

The UN has just formed an Inter-Agency Task Team to promote coordination across the UN system and work with all partners to make the most of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development.  The Task Team will start work immediately.

In closing, technology is moving at a breathtaking pace.  In the fields of medicine, agriculture, the environment and communications, we have seen dramatic progress that has partly revolutionized our lives.

Children are benefiting from e-learning.  Farmers are getting pricing updates on their phones.  Humanitarians are using mobile technology to save lives in disasters.  Across the international agenda, we see how technology is advancing human progress.  Now our challenge is to extend these advances to all people and nations.

Technology can help us live up to the promise to leave no one behind.  The mechanism is a new important tool that will help us achieve this promise.