Mr. Wu Hongbo Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Secretary-General for the International Conference on Financing for Development
First substantive informal session of the preparatory process for the third International Conference on Financing for Development
17 October 2014, New York
Mr. President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Distinguished co-Facilitators,
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to address this first substantive informal session of the preparatory process for the third International Conference on Financing for Development. Today’s meeting marks the beginning of an important process on the road to the Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July next year.
Financing is critical to achieving sustainable development. Financing needs are large. Raising the necessary resources will be challenging, but it is feasible. Arriving at a comprehensive financing framework will be central to any agreement on a sustainable development agenda.
The Conference in Addis Ababa will provide an opportunity to agree on such a financing framework. The success of the Conference will be a significant milestone for the Summit on post-2015 in September next year.
As designated Secretary-General of the Conference, under the leadership of the Secretary-General himself, I am committed to working hard with all of you to make it a real success.
Excellencies,
The Conference will focus on reviewing the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration on Financing for Development; on addressing new challenges in the mobilization and effective use of financial resources for sustainable development; and on reinvigorating the Financing for Development follow-up process.
As the Secretary-General rightly put it, the Conference will serve as a key stepping stone for the post-2015 development agenda. Such a comprehensive and transformative global development agenda requires renewed commitment and innovative policies for means of implementation, which I believe will be generated from this important Conference.
Today we launch the process under the auspices of the President of the General Assembly, and able leadership by the co-facilitators, and with strong political will from Member States. I am confident that we will all work together to realize our joint vision, and meet the expectations from the international community.
Your deliberations will be informed by the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, by the proposals of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, and by the synthesis report of the Secretary-General which will be made available before the end of the year.
The Committee’s report – mandated to serve as an important input to the preparations for the Conference – has put forward a comprehensive agenda that can guide the upcoming discussions. The report builds on Monterrey and Doha, but also responds to recent changes in the evolving development cooperation landscape.
The Committee report makes three major contributions: it develops an analytical framework for financing sustainable development; it proposes a basket of over 115 policy options for countries to choose from; and it suggests areas for advancement of the global partnership for sustainable development.
The Committee report has extended the focus of Monterrey to encompass a universal agenda, incorporating both national development goals, particularly for least developed countries, and global sustainable development aspirations. It also incorporates the interaction of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
As such, it provides a conceptual framework that incorporates climate financing and new challenges into the financing for development discourse, which could provide useful guidance in developing a financing framework for the post-2015 development agenda.
Excellencies,
A successful outcome will depend on strong participation from Member States, including Ministries of Finance, Trade, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation. It will also rely on the active engagement of the major institutional stakeholders involved in the Financing for Development process, namely the World Bank, IMF, WTO, UNCTAD and UNDP, with the support of the whole UN system. In addition, the full involvement of civil society, the business community and all other relevant actors throughout the preparatory process will be key to the success of the Conference.
All stakeholders will have to work together to find common high ground – and do what is needed – to rise to the challenge. Expectations are high, as the Secretary-General said.
Together, we have the opportunity to make the Addis Ababa Conference a success and lay the foundation for the implementation of an ambitious and transformative post-2015 development agenda.
I am committed to working towards this goal with all of you.
Thank you.
