Statement of the UN Resident Coordinator at the Joint National Steering Committee Meeting

Programme Director

Dr. Tambo Gina, Hon. Minister of Economic Planning and Development and my co-chair of the J-NSC

Principal Secretaries and senior Government officials

Development Partners

Representatives of civil society

Captains of industry and representatives of the private sector

UN colleagues,

Results Groups Chairpersons,

Representatives of Academia

Members of the media

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

Si-ya-ni-vu-se-la e-ku-se-ni!

Allow me to begin by heartily congratulating you, Hon. Minister, on your re-appointment as Minister of Economic Planning and Development. We are glad for the continuity and look forward to working with you.

We gather here today as the Joint National Steering Committee of the Government of Eswatini and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework to review the work done in 2023 against Agenda 2030 and the promise of the Cooperation Framework – to contribute to “a just, prosperous, and resilient Eswatini where nobody is left behind.”

Crucially, this meeting is an important accountability forum on the contribution we are making to sustainable development in Eswatini.

I commend the collaborative efforts that have led to the achievements that we are going to hear and discussion today.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Results Groups, the leads and co-leads under the four outcome areas, colleagues in government and other implementing partners, the UN heads of agencies and staff, for the progress made. 

Accept my special, Hon. Minister Tambo Gina and your team for your dedication and leadership of the J-NSC and overall, in advancing Agenda 2030 of the SDGs and Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

I want to sincerely thank all our international and private sector partners who have provided resources both locally and globally to the work of the UN. My sincere thanks to the international partners who participate in the International Development Partners Platform where we seek to remain ever more coordinated in our work with Eswatini.

I reserve a special appreciation for my team at the Resident Coordinator’s Office for the hard work of helping to bring the reports together.

Today, allow me to share three key messages that may help to frame the conversation we are going to have today.

The first relates to the shifts in development funding landscape.

Middle-income countries, like Eswatini, face the unique challenge of rapidly decreasing ODA and concessional finance while a significant percentage of their populations still live in poverty.

The reality is that many of the significant gains made in eradicating poverty in the past decades have been negatively impacted by recent challenges, including the lingering impacts of COVID-19, global conflicts, tensions, price hikes for fuel and energy, as well as the climate change emergency.

These have served to reduce development funding, especially for countries considered middle income. The emphasis has shifted to development financing from through multiple sources – direct investments, development banks, capital markets, philanthropic foundations, and remittances, grants, tax revenues, etc.

• In particular, there is increased emphasis on local sources, sharper prioritization, coordination, efficiencies, and strategic investments to do more with less.

The UN is committed to supporting integrated financing assessments and policies to help Eswatini in this effort and is currently in discussions with the Central Bank of Eswatini on co-hosting a roundtable discussion on policy instruments such as priority sector lending in March 2024.

My second final point is on the need for resilience, agility, and alignment of resources and efforts in a rapidly changing environment:

Halfway through the implementation of Agenda 2030 globally, the reality is that we are far off from achieving the SDGs, and we are called to redouble our efforts.

Our rapidly changing environment is testing our resilience, agility, and our ability to adapt.

Our cooperation framework remains the basis of UN support to the Kingdom and aligns with Eswatini's National Development Plan as well as other national priorities and continues to adapt to new priorities as outlined by the Government.

I extend my congratulations to Eswatini for its active participation in the SDG Summit last September during which world leaders renewed their commitments to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

In our ongoing engagements with Government and partners, we have noted the need to prioritize the creation of opportunities for young people, improving the quality of our education, aligning it to the job market, supporting a just and equitable energy transition, improving service delivery, health systems strengthening, disaster resilience, and ensuring that we leave no one behind. These ideas are our contextual response to the emerging global emphasis on a few investment pathways that have a positive impact on other SDGs (Slide)

My Third and final point relates to the value and role of the UN in our context.

Given the changing funding context globally and Eswatini’s development status, we emphasize that the value of the UN’s partnership is not necessarily in the monetary resources that we bring into the country.

Indeed, our funding is often catalytic and serves to leverage other resources, including from government.

• The UN leverages its resources through supporting strategic policy, providing best practices, capacity building, coordination and convening, while helping to ensure inclusion, protection and care for the most vulnerable.
• The UN supports the country in navigating and interpretating global developments and policies to inform choice-making by the government:  E.g. the conversations around climate change, climate financing, energy, etc. While there are clear and scientific arguments for green energy and decarbonization to save the planet, the choice-making is eventually informed by political and economic, hence the emphasis on ‘just transitions and green financing.
• Domesticating global commitments – The UN supports the fulfillment of global commitments including the various conventions, protocols and treaties that Eswatini is party to. As an example, through the Universal Periodic Review process under the HRC, Eswatini has accepted various recommendations and we are here to support you to take them forward, while encouraging even more ambition at the human rights front.

Let me conclude my remarks by indicating that this year, we will commence the processes for the development of the new Cooperation Framework for the period 2026-2030. This process begins with the formal evaluation of our current framework later this year after which a roadmap will be developed and shared to ensure we have a new document by the end of next year.

We look forward to this process and your enthusiastic participation in it.

Thank you, dear partners and colleagues, welcome to the meeting, and I look forward to fruitful and engaging discussions.

Siyabonga kakhulu!