Success of 2030 Agenda Hinges on Partnerships, Secretary-General Tells Development Committee, Urging Greater World Bank Role in Capacity-Building, Fund Mobilization

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the development committee meeting:  World Bank Group support for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in Lima on 10 October:

I thank the World Bank Group for convening this meeting.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is centred on people.

It addresses the structural factors that have hindered poverty eradication, inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Its motto is “leave no one behind”.

Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets aim to promote prosperity and well-being for everyone, everywhere, on a healthy planet

The Agenda addresses means of implementation through a dedicated SDG and through targets under each goal.

These are also reflected in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.

In December, Governments will meet in Paris to finalize a much-anticipated climate change agreement.

These three milestones combined promise to put the world on a transformative path to end extreme poverty, avoid the worst impacts of climate change and promote sustainable development.

But the test of our plans will lie in how well, and how urgently, they are implemented.

Success will rely on a renewed partnership for development among all actors, including Governments, parliaments, local authorities, international institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector.

The World Bank Group has a major role to play.  It rallied around the Millennium Development Goals.  It engaged enthusiastically in shaping the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

And I see it is already embracing and mobilizing around the SDGs.  Many of the priority areas of the World Bank — as encapsulated in its 14 global practices — mirror SDG priorities.

The World Bank can step up capacity-building and the mobilization of resources for sustainable development by drawing on its rich technical expertise.

It has an important role in economic empowerment, sustainable agriculture and infrastructure, the fight against hunger, combating climate change, building resilience, and promoting effective governance and the rule of law.

I count on the World Bank to encourage other multilateral and regional financial institutions and development banks to incorporate the SDGs into their programmes and work.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires all of us to rethink how we “do development”.  Progress on one goal will impact other goals.  We must pursue all the SDGs together, develop holistic approaches and build synergies.

Clearly, more than ever, the World Bank, the United Nations and the world’s international and regional institutions must work hand in hand.

I am determined to carry forward the growing cooperation between the UN and the World Bank, and I know President Kim is too.

There is a wealth of opportunity.

At the global level, we have put in place inter-agency teams around several important issues, notably the follow-up to Addis.

We should likewise increase coordination in the way we support countries.

It is essential that the World Bank Group participates in the mechanisms for follow-up and review of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

I encourage World Bank representatives to join us at the inaugural ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) Forum on Financing for Development next year as well as at the first Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Next year will also see the first full session of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

The HLPF will be the central platform where national, regional and thematic reviews of the 2030 Agenda come together.

Next year’s HLPF will conduct the first country reviews, showcasing how some early starters are preparing to implement the SDGs.

The General Assembly has mandated the World Bank to closely engage in supporting and advising the work of the HLPF, and I look forward to your contribution.

We have travelled a long way together to reach this turning point.

Let us now work together to make the 2030 Agenda a reality in the lives of people everywhere.

Thank you.