Remarks by the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. George Wachira, at the media briefing on the 2023 SDG Summit

Honourable Minister, UN & MEPD colleagues, distinguished representatives of media houses, ladies and gentlemen.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you ladies and gentlemen from the media and to thank you for making time to attend this important media briefing which has been organised by the Ministry of Economic Planning & Development (MEPD) to brief you on the SDG Summit 2023. This important Summit will take place on the sidelines of the General Assembly on 19 September 2023.

As you may be aware, the MEPD is responsible for the coordination of SDG implementation in the country, with support from the United Nations.

Let me also appreciate the Minister of Economic Planning & Development, Dr. Tambo Gina and his team, for the initiative to convene this engagement with you to ensure that Emaswati are informed about the country’s preparations for this important  Summit and the national preparations for it. I also applaud the UN Country Team’s Progamme and Policy Support Group for overseeing UN’s support to this process under the technical leadership of UNDP.

Let me take a moment to indicate why the upcoming SDG Summit is important to all countries, including the Kingdom of Eswatini.

First, you will know that, in 2015, Member States launched the Agenda 2030 with 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030.  2030 is now a mere 7 years away.

The reality is that the multiple crises of the last three years have dealt a major blow to the implementation efforts of SDGs globally, including here in Eswatini.

According to a report released by UNDP in January 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine have pushed 165 million people into poverty since 2020.

These shocks have also contributed to rising inequalities; the rights of women and girls around the world have come under siege; and efforts of averting climate catastrophe have not been sufficient to avert the disaster.

Thus, on several occasions, the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, has graphically warned that the world is driving towards a climate catastrophe with its collective foot flat on the accelerator; that we simply must stop, and turn around; that it is getting late to save the planet.

The Secretary-General has also indicated – with typical honesty – that even before the crises hit, the world was not on track to meet the goals by 2030, for the reason that many of the critical policy changes, innovations and investments intended to drive the 2030 agenda have not advanced at the speed or scale required.

The SDG Summit is therefore intended to bring all Member States together to review progress and generate new commitments and ambition to recover lost ground and accelerate sustainable development to achieve the headline targets of the 2030 Agenda to end poverty, reduce inequality and protect the environment. For this reason, the Summit is about what has been called, an ‘SDG Rescue Plan.’

Ladies and gentlemen of the media:

It is not all gloom and doom.

I would like to congratulate the Kingdom of Eswatini for its significant strides towards the SDGs despite the challenging times. I am sure MEPD will highlight some of the critical achievements made so far.

In particular for Eswatini, the SDG Summit comes soon after Eswatini presented its second Voluntary National Review of the SDGs in 2022.

According to the VNR report, some of the positive developments include the increase in the overall amount of external assistance to the country by 34.6% between 2018/19 and 2020/21. We also know that Eswatini also made tremendous progress in he health sector especially in relation to HIV/AIDS, and in education.

Some of the challenges identified by the VNR report include high levels of poverty (58.9% against 30% target by 2030); unemployment increased from 23% in 2016 to 33.3% in 2021 and under 5 stunting increased from 19.9% reported in the last VNR to 29.4%.

Quite commendably, the Government of Eswatini has prioritized responses to some of these challenges in the recently completed National Development Plan and in other national documents, including the Post-Covid 19 Recovery Plan.

The SDG Summit is about scaling up globally the transformative actions that are needed to respond to these challenges.

Globally, as part of the preparations for the SDG Summit, the UN has launched a campaign, Act Now for the SDGs, to rally support for the SDGs. The campaign aims to amplify the urgent call for ambitious new action, showcase the Goals as the blueprint for sustainable progress globally, and galvanize the global public around this shared agenda for our common future.

Role the Media

As the Minister will elaborate, the Kingdom of Eswatini, with support from the UN, has embarked on a consultative process with all key stakeholders as part of the country’s preparations for the SDG Summit in September. In this regard, media coverage of the build-up activities and consultations will be critical to amplify the UN’s rallying call, building momentum toward the SDG Summit.

We are seeking for your support to increase awareness of the SDGs and their role in ending poverty, increasing shared prosperity, promoting rights including those of women and girls, and saving the planet.

We seek your support to inspire action through your stories and reportage. Let us show Eswatini’s SDG progress and encourage renewed commitment from decision makers, private sector, civil society, and the public towards the SDGs.

On behalf of the UN in Eswatini, I would like to re-affirm our commitment towards the upcoming SDG summit.

The UN Country Team will continue to extended support, through technical and financial offer to work with the government, especially through the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, to prepare for the Summit, including the Development of the Eswatini SDG Recovery and Acceleration Plan, or the ‘SDGs Rescue Plan.’

Thank you!