Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Deputy secretary-general at the United Nations Amina Mohammed told Saudi Gazette Monday that there will be no priority to any country in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All countries will be involved in meeting the 2030 agenda, she noted, saying "we do not want to leave anyone behind. It is universal." Among the issues they put forward are migration, youth joblessness, poverty, elderly and disabled people. The themes also include access to education and health services, gender equality and environment protection. She said many countries have short-term plans, but the UN wants to expand the countries' plans for development and encourage commitment and institutional capacity for these countries to meet the global agenda 2030. Asked about the amount required to meet the global goals, she said "we need $3 to $4 trillion a year to invest globally, but now we are talking in millions." She added "if we do sustainable right and be responsive differently to each country, we will see stability in market prices. We have to do it now, otherwise it will be very expensive." Asked about the UN collaboration with IDB, the UN deputy secretary-general explained that IDB can provide financing that can bridge the gap of sustainable development for countries to meet the global 2030 agenda. IDB, she said, has an advantage over other financing institutions since IDB has managed to go into countries that others could not reach due to conflicts and instabilities. Among what Amina considers IDB's crucial projects are infrastructure, smart agriculture, renewable energy and clean energy. She added that any future projects should seek to increase the participation of the young generation. In addition, she stressed the importance of women participation. Amina highlighted the role that the private sector can play in implementing the global goals. However, she noted that the main challenge is that in order to do projects, private sector needs to be encouraged and comforted in order to take risks. The private sector need to participate and be part of the community, rather than just making a profit, she remarked. Speaking about the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, she said "everyday there is a cost to lives and infrastructure. We need leadership to stop what is happening in Syria and Yemen, 40 years of development have been wiped out in Syria." Commenting on the recent development in the Gulf region, she said "this has to be dealt with by the region." Amina was talking to reporters following a meeting held Monday between the Deputy Secretary General of the UN Amina Mohammed, and the President of the IDB Group Dr. Bandar Hajjar held at IDB Group headquarters. Amina pointed out that the visit to IDB Group headquarters is an opportunity to "start a new era for partnership. We need to have interactive partnership with strong governments and have results at the country level." Priority areas for strengthened cooperation between the UN and the IDB Group include project development and implementation around shared priority areas and comparative advantages, development of private sector partnerships, advancing the global Islamic impact, investing platform for blending Islamic financing and private sector resources, aligning key IDB Group Member Country Partnership Strategies to relevant SDGs, and promoting systematic institutional cooperation. Cooperation to be expanded beyond the Arab countries to include Africa, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States and Asia. The IDB Group President emphasized that the "IDB Group is fully committed to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as all of our 57 member countries have signed on the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development in September of 2015." "The visit of the UN Deputy Secretary General is a unique opportunity to strengthen cooperation with the UN for the benefit of IDB Group member countries. The visit also coincides with the reforms I initiated since assuming office, where IDB Group is being transformed from a development bank to a bank of development and developers. This initiative, which is drawn from the Bank's 10-Year Strategic Framework is aligned with a number of the initiatives outlined in the SDGs," Hajjar added.
