Welcome to the United Nations
Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, progress towards the SDGs was not at the pace required to achieve the goals by 2030. Actions, including actions to address the climate change crisis, were not ambitious enough. The September 2019 SDG Summit launched a Decade of Action to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. But the COVID-19 pandemic that struck the world late 2019 has reversed years and sometimes decades of progress on many SDGs. The war in Ukraine is now generating crises of historical proportion. The Secretary-General’s Global Crisis Response Group stated that an “estimated 1.6 billion people are exposed to at least one dimension of the food, energy or financial crisis. About 1.2 billion of them live in ‘perfect-storm’ countries severely vulnerable to all three dimensions – food, energy and finance”. The Secretary-General’s progress report on the SDGs estimates that these combined crises will lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic projections. The benefits we were expecting from the fragile global economic recovery are being severely undermined by the impacts of the triple crises and outburst of the pandemic, while inflation, disrupted supply chains and other factors weighed in on economic growth.
At the same time, policies matter. Comprehensive stimulus packages have been implemented during the pandemic to protect jobs and ensure social protection. Important international initiatives have been taken to ensure access to the vaccine, address unsustainable debt of developing countries and mobilize financial resources. But we must do much more. Equal access and effective distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, along with developing countries’ equal access to financial resources are essential for recovering from the pandemic. We must also pursue the SDGs as an integral part of our recovery policies, as the theme of the HLPF reminds us. Much more comprehensive, transformative and innovative policies are now needed to keep the focus on the SDGs in the current environment, recover better from the pandemic, avert famine, ensure access to energy and reign in the financial crisis. International solidarity is essential in all those areas. The Secretary-General and many countries, organizations, think tanks, NGOs and others have made proposals to reinforce multilateral cooperation in the current context. The preparations for the SDG Summit and the complementary Summit of the Future are the opportunity to take further action in this direction and to turn the tide and move on to a track of accelerated SDG progress.
This roundtable will bring together ministers from different portfolios to share their various perspectives, vision and experiences on steps that can be taken to address on-going crises and challenges at national, regional and global level, guided by the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
Delegations whose Ministers wish to speak in the ministerial dialogue should register through the e-speakers module on the e-deleGATE portal (edelegate.un.int). Participation in the dialogue will be in person only and will be limited to ministers or, time permitting, vice-ministers. In order to hear as many statements as possible within the limited time available, a time limit of three minutes per statement will be strictly implemented. A provisional list of Ministers that have expressed an interest in speaking during the ministerial dialogue will be circulated in the week of 5 July.
Proposed guiding questions:
Of the current crises and challenges that have emerged this past year, which one is having the largest impact on building back better and SDG achievement in your national context? What immediate measures are being taken at the national level to address these impacts?
What can we learn from the different country experiences in implementing long-term plans and measures for the SDGs when confronted with unforeseen events, crises and challenges?
What immediate measures are needed at the international level to address the crises and challenges that have emerged during the past year, including increased global food insecurity, rising energy costs and insecurity, inflation, and increased CO2 emissions?
What measures are needed to assist developing countries, including countries in special situations as well as Middle Income Countries, to address the emerging crises and challenges?
What are the next steps and actions to be undertaken and implemented during the year ahead in the social, economic and environmental areas with a view to recover, build back better and bring about the transformations needed to rescue and advance the SDGs leading up to the SDG Summit in September 2023?
What needs to be done to ensure that plans for addressing crises better incorporate measures for reducing inequalities, advancing climate action, protecting the environment and promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns over the immediate and long-term?
Chair: Vice President of ECOSOC (Bolivia)
