Thank you, Chair, for giving me the floor as coordinator of the five United Nations regional commissions.
We gather to address the crises, drive transformation for the achievement of the SDGs and ensure that no one is left behind.
As we continue to face ongoing challenges, including COVID-19 recovery, climate change and geopolitical tensions, urgent actions are required in our regions to accelerate progress and achieve sustainable development.
Key messages from the five regions are:
- The SDG financing gap has widened since the pandemic. Record-level debt makes financing development difficult, potentially leading to a larger crisis. Climate finance, including adaptation and mitigation funding, falls short of commitments despite promises made.
- Geopolitical conflicts and climate change threaten food security.
Price volatility due to conflicts impacts food imports, while climate change hampers food production, worsening food security and contributes to cascading crises. Insufficient public resources hinder the development of comprehensive social protection systems, leaving vulnerable groups behind.
- Achieving the Goals by 2030 requires collective action. The transboundary impacts of diseases, disasters and climate change necessitate holistic and unified approaches. Commitments must be honored to facilitate concrete actions.
Overcoming the crises will require transformative policies, financing SDG goals, and international cooperation to ensure inclusive access to sustainable technologies, social protection, and debt management.
Regional commissions, with their convening power, expertise and technical capacity, help countries respond to crises and build resilience to future ones. For instance:
- ECLAC, together with FAO and the World Food Programme, launched a policy brief on food security that contains concrete proposals to reinforce the regional plan for food security, nutrition and the eradication of hunger by 2025.
- To accelerate industrialization and economic diversification, ECA and its partners are supporting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
- ECE, in collaboration with other entities, provides extensive country-level advisory services to minimize air pollution, improve water management, prevent industrial accidents and assess environmental impacts.
- ESCWA is working with partners to improve water governance and advance shared water resources management.
- ESCAP is supporting the development of comprehensive and universal social protection to enhance preparedness for future crises and supporting an inclusive energy transition through national SDG7 Road Maps to accelerate the decarbonization of the economy.
Moving forward, the regional commissions will continue supporting member States in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Thank you.
