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  4. Overcoming The Crises, Driving Transformation For The SDGs, and Leaving No One Behind (Townhall Meeting)

Overcoming the crises, driving transformation for the SDGs, and leaving no one behind (Townhall meeting)

(What is the scorecard on the SDGs amidst multiple crises half-way point to the 2030 Agenda? Are the responses to COVID-19, the food crisis and other crises helping to realize the 2030 Agenda and ensure no one is left behind? How can we bring about the transformations the SDGs require? What lessons have we learned?)

The COVID-19 pandemic and the multiple crises continue to threaten decades of progress made in development around the world. Three decades of steady progress in poverty reduction was reversed for the first time and hunger is rising. For the first time on record, the global Human Development Index declined two years in a row. Protracted conflicts around the world and the war in Ukraine continue to impact the food, energy, financial and economic crises, while increasing the humanitarian needs around the world. Estimates for world economic growth in 2023 are projected to be lower than expected earlier, with a sharp downturn in most developed economies and a worsening outlook in most developing countries. The impacts of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution/waste have been intensifying. Against this backdrop, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains the guiding framework to overcome the crises, address the lingering impacts of the pandemic and achieve the transformations needed to realize an inclusive, sustainable, prosperous and resilient future for people and planet.

The session is envisioned to advance discussions on transformative policies and actions needed for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of the 2023 SDG Summit in September. The discussions could provide insights into developing long-term, risk-informed, inclusive and prevention-oriented strategies to improve people’s capacities and well-being, through greater investments in health, education, social services, infrastructure, jobs, technologies and social protection, with a view to leave no one behind.

This session at the HLPF will have a townhall format. This means that the first speakers have been identified but any other participant can then intervene from the floor.

Proposed guiding questions:

  • What in your view are the main challenges in assessing SDG progress and how can data capacity be improved to promote evidence-based decision making around the SDGs?
  • Are the responses to COVID-19, the food and other crises helping to realize the 2030 Agenda and ensure that no one is left behind? How can recovery measures be more age, disability- and gender-responsive?
  • What are transformative policies and initiatives that can accelerate recovery from the pandemic, advance accelerated actions to achieve the SDGs, step up climate action and leave no one behind? How can synergies be best maximized, and trade-offs minimized?
  • How can governments, UN entities, civil society, private sector, academia and other stakeholders address the impact of disjointed policies accumulated over a life-course, and reset the trajectory towards equitable, inclusive and sustainable societies?
  • How can we address the food security situation, including by building on the outcomes of the Secretary-General’s Food Systems Summit, particularly in countries in special situations?

Chair:

  • H.E. Ms. Lachezara Stoeva, President of the Economic and Social Council

Presentation:

  • Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, presentation of the Report of the Secretary-General (special edition) on “Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet”.

(The speaking order in the meeting is thought of as to stimulate an interactive conversation rather than following protocol.)

Moderator:

  • Mr. Sherwin Bryce-Pease, Bureau Chief & Correspondent, South African Broadcasting Corporation

Lead speakers:

Part1:

  • Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization
  • Ms. Catherine Mary Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF
  • Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF
  • Ms. Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
  • Mr. Ovide Mercredi, Ambassador of the International Longevity Centre Canada

Interventions of Ministers and other participants (3 minutes each)

Part2:

  • Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Coordinator of UN Regional Commissions
  • Mr. Steve Macfeely, Co-Chair of the Committee for the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System, Director of Data and Analysis of WHO
  • Ms. Elham Youssefian, Inclusive Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor, International Disability Alliance (MGoS)

Interventions of Ministers and other participants (3 minutes each)