Goal 17 - SDGs for All

Photo: First Anniversary Commemoration of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. Credit: UNOSSC

UN Chief Lauds India for Deepening South-South Cooperation

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary‑General António Guterres has commended India's "very important role in shaping the Sustainable Development Goals". He was speaking at an event marking the first anniversary of the India‑United Nations Development Partnership Fund in New York.

The Fund aims at supporting sustainable development for low-income nations with 22 projects having already been approved in 25 partner countries ranging from hurricane rehabilitation and climate early warning system to government accountability and agriculture.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 17; 10 June 2018

Photo: 74th ESCAP Session: Countries adopt regional actions to tackle inequalities. Credit: ESCAP.

Multilateralism in Action is Something We Need to See More Of

By Miroslav Lajčák

Miroslav Lajčák is President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Following are extensive excerpts from his Statement at 74th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) with focus on Inequality in the Era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on 14 May 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. – The Editor.

BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) – In 2015, we made a promise. We committed to leaving no one behind. And, the theme of this session is a stark reminder of our promise: Inequality in the Era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 17; 22 May 2018

Photo: Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness addressing the ACP Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels on 16 April 2018. Credit: ACP.

Forward To a New Vision for the ACP Group

By Andrew Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica delivered a strong message on ACP solidarity in preparation for new relations with the EU when he addressed the Committee of Ambassadors of the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States in Brussels on 16 April 2018. Following are extensive excerpts from his remarks, which are of particular importance as the Cotonou Agreement between the two blocs expires in February 2020 and talks for a follow-up accord are set to begin in August this year. – The Editor.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 17; 19 April 2018

Donors Spend Less on Refugees, More on Poorest Countries

By Rita Joshi

PARIS (IDN) – Foreign aid from 30 opulent nations, designated as "official donors", totalled USD 146.6 billion in 2017, signifying a small decrease of 0.6% from the previous year in real terms because they spent less money on refugees hosted by them. But countries most in need of aid received more funds.

Aid, formally labelled as Official Development Assistance (ODA), constitutes over two thirds of external finance for least-developed countries. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is pushing for ODA to be better used as a lever to generate private investment and domestic tax revenue in poor countries to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 17; 13 April 2018

Photo: Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed visits a rehabilitation centre for disabled children in Belarus. © Egor Dubrovsky/UN Photo

Realising the SDGs Will Require Action in Five Key Areas

By Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

This article first appeared in Sustainable Development Goals: Delivering Change, UNA-UK publication providing analysis and recommendations in achieving Sustainable Development Goals on 19 March 2018. – The Editor

LONDON (IDN-INPS) – In this third year of global efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there are encouraging signs of momentum. The hope that accompanied the Agenda’s adoption in 2015 is still with us. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have captured the imagination of leaders and general public alike. Member States are showing strong ownership – including through personal engagement by heads of state and government – and are aligning their plans and strategies accordingly.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 17; 31 March 2018

Photo: John Bob Ranck, Chief Executive Officer and President at Orbis International. Credit: Naimul Haq | IDN-INPS

Why Eye Care is Important – for Bangladesh and Other Countries

By Naimul Haq

DHAKA (IDN) – John Bob Ranck, also known as Bob, Chief Executive Officer and President at Orbis International, recently visited Bangladesh on a special mission. He travelled to some of the hospitals where Orbis as a partner has been supporting Bangladesh’s efforts in addressing avoidable blindness.

Bob, a retired United States Air Force Brigadier General, came to Bangladesh a few weeks after the memorable visit of the teaching hospital or better known as the Flying Eye Hospital’s (FEH) training programme in Bangladesh. (P49) FRENCH | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | TURKISH | URDU

: IDN-INPS Editor; Project Articles; 16 March 2018

Photo: Night at Seomyeon, Busan, South Korea. Credit: Flickr, author Carey Ciuro. Creative Commons.

South Korea Urged to Keep Increasing Development Aid

By Tae Han Goo

SEOUL (IDN) – South Korea, often cited as a leading example of how sound economic policies can drive growth and development, blazing a trail from poverty to advanced industrialisation throughout the 1970s and 1980s, will have a greater impact on international development cooperation if it manages to produce a clear plan to increase aid volumes in line with its stated ambitions, according to a new OECD Review.

All the more so because building on its reputation as a development success, the country – officially known as the Republic of Korea – now plays a highly valued role on the global stage, sharing its knowledge with others and helping to bridge the divide between developing and developed country interests.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 17; 22 February 2018

Equal Rights to Economic Resources Vital to Gender Equality

By Heather Wokusch*

This is the eighth and last in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) organized this Conference co-ordinated by Heather Wokusch. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Women across the world face discrimination in accessing economic resources. As the resulting disparity hinders a range of development goals, such as reducing poverty and improving the welfare of children, a multidisciplinary conference at the United Nations Vienna recently explored possible solutions.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 5; 20 February 2018

UN Turns To 'Unite Ideas' In Support Of The Global Goals

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations is on way to improving tools available for designing sustainable development policies, and building a search engine for people working on solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for accessing relevant knowledge on science, technology and innovation.

The UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) announced on February 12 that a team from the University of Southampton, a public research university in the United Kingdom, had won the Unite Ideas #SDGInsights challenge for its methodology to identify drinking water service in Liberia.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 6; 19 February 2018

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressing opening ceremony of the Munich Security Conference 2018 on 16 February. Credit: MSC / Kuhlmann

UN Chief Warns of a Repeat of the League of Nations' Fate

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | MUNICH (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned against a repeat of what happened with the League of Nations and the threat of a nuclear conflict, stressed the need for breaking the Gordian knot in the "broader Middle East", called for establishing an international legal framework for "cyberwars between States", and asked the international community to build a consensus on regulating the "so‑called Internet of things."

Guterres was speaking at the opening ceremony of the three-day Munich Security Conference that concluded on February 18. Its motto "To the Brink – and Back?" seemed an apt description of the situation confronting today's world.