SDG Summit..Multi-stakeholder consultation on Egypt’s National Commitments to Accelerate SDG Progress

Excellencies, esteemed partners, dear colleagues,

My sincere thanks to H.E. Minister Dr. Hala El-Said, and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, for the opportunity to speak at this important consultation.

I would like to start by commending the Government of Egypt for its continued commitment to the principles of multi-dimensional and inclusive development despite the unprecedented challenges facing the world and this region.

Egypt was an early adopter of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. Its approach to sustainable development has been anchored in the Egypt Vision 2030 that aligns directly with all 17 SDGs.

Egypt has also in recent years strengthened climate action through the National Climate Change Strategy 2050 and updated Nationally Determined Contributions.

Today’s discussion is another tangible example of SDG commitment in action.

These are difficult times. For the first time in decades, development progress is reversing under the cascading impacts of climate change, war and conflict, economic downturn and the lingering effects of COVID-19.

At the half-way point of SDGs, the world is off course. This year’s SDG Progress Report found that just 12 percent of SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030.

And while the lack of progress is universal, it is the world’s poorest and most vulnerable who are experiencing the worst effects.

But there is hope. We have the blueprints for transformation: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

This month’s SDG Summit during the UN General Assembly is an opportunity to change course and secure the breakthroughs needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030.  

The Secretary-General has called it a moment of hope – a chance to energize efforts to move from words to action.

The Summit will see the adoption of an inter-governmental Political Declaration, reaffirming global commitments to implement the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.

It will focus on making more funding available to developing countries through an ambitious SDG Stimulus plan.

And it will generate momentum for SDG acceleration at the country level. The Secretary-General has urged every government to come to the Summit with clear plans and pledges to strengthen action in their countries through 2030. 

Egypt has responded to this call.

First, the draft commitments we will discuss today touch on areas critical to achieving the SDGs in Egypt over the next 7 years:

• Human development, and investing in high quality education and health care for all;

• Gender equality, including increased women’s participation in the economy;

• Economic transformation and the realization of a robust, productive, and internationally competitive private sector.

Second, Egypt is proposing an ambitious target for reducing poverty by the year 2027. This serves as a marker of its SDG ambitions and measure of how national commitments and other key national targets are helping people where it matters most.

Third, Egypt has been a global innovator when it comes to institutional arrangements for SDG implementation.

• It has adopted new approaches to the collection, management and use of disaggregated, timely and quality data;

• Developed an integrated financing framework for resource mobilization and allocation in favor of the SDGs; and

• Emphasized SDG localization to address spatial and geographic disparities and ensure that no one is left behind.

The SDGs are everyone’s goals. Here in Egypt, the national commitments to SDG transformation should be owned by all.

It is critical to bring in perspectives from as many sides as possible: government, civil society, the private sector, local authorities, academia and youth. Different groups provide different views on where the country needs to go, and also new ideas for the solutions to get there.

I thank all the colleagues who have gathered here today. And I applaud the Government’s recognition of the importance of multi-stakeholder consultation and collective action.

I urge today a frank exchange of views on Egypt’s priorities, challenges, and solutions. This meeting is a key step towards strengthening consensus on what is needed to accelerate the SDGs in Egypt, and how we all as individuals can play a supportive role.

The UN in Egypt is a proud partner of the Government of Egypt. Earlier this year we signed our new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-27 outlining our shared vision and priority areas for collaboration.

The cooperation framework aligns closely with the government’s sustainable development vision and will guide our partnership in the coming years in support of SDG acceleration.

Today’s consultation and the SDG Summit are important but intermediate steps on the path to the SDGs. Collective action over the medium- and long-term is needed to make the vision agreed in the coming days a reality.

Once again, I thank H.E. the Minister, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, and all the esteemed participants gathered here today.

I will close with a word of hope from the Secretary-General: “As we cross the halfway mark to 2030, one overriding truth stands out in my mind: Change is possible. Poverty, pollution, and gender inequality are not pre-ordained. They are trends that can be reversed, problems that can be solved, tragedies that can be averted. 

Together, we can deliver.”

I wish you all a successful consultation.