Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to the 2024 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities.
We convene this Conference at a time when our world is facing enormous challenges. Most of the Sustainable Development Goals are lagging and some have even regressed from their 2015 benchmarks. Our poverty and hunger eradication goals are under threat and the livelihoods of countless people are at risk. Urgent action is needed to make real progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Despite this concerning reality, countries continue to show a high level of willingness in achieving the SDGs.
The Political Declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit was marked with hope, with countries committing to urgent, accelerated and transformative action towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient future. Likewise, countries remain committed to monitoring their progress and sharing lessons learned. In just the past two years, 83 voluntary national review reports were presented at the High-Level Political Forum by both developed and developing countries, underscoring the universality of the 2030 Agenda.
The reformed United Nations development system provides vital support to Member States in their efforts to progress towards their development goals at the scope and speed needed. However, for the system to reach its full potential and provide the effective, strategic support that countries need, it requires funding that is more sustainable, flexible and predictable.
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
This is the first United Nations Pledging Conference for Development activities since 2019. As some of you would recall, the relevance and format of this Pledging Conference was reviewed in 2021. During those negotiations, Member States generally indicated that the Pledging Conference provided a venue for expressing political will in support of development and a valuable opportunity to give increased visibility to their financial contributions to the UN development system.
Member States also felt that the Conference should maintain its focus on development-related activities. This comes at a time when a rapidly increasing proportion of funding to the UN system is being earmarked for humanitarian action, while funding for development activities has stagnated.
At the same time, Member States supported the restructuring of the Pledging Conference to make it more fit for purpose, including through a more substantive dialogue on current funding issues.
We expect that this year¡¯s conference will meet these demands.
Excellencies,
With your guidance and support, the UN development system will seek to provide better support to programme countries in their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda.
Let us all work together to create a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
Thank you.