Lecture/discussion on the implementation of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and reform of the UN

Dear students,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me to this exchange. Working with academia is very close to my heart and discussing with students of the International Relations Faculty is almost like coming home since I myself started off my career by studying International Relations.

I am very pleased that, as scholars of Peace Studies, you have asked me to elaborate on the development agenda. Indeed, the peace and development agendas are closely intertwined. Conflict often starts from the perception of discrimination and injustice over the lack of economic, social and political opportunities or quarrels over scarce resources. At the same time, peace is a requirement for making progress on development. Add to this the human rights aspect, a prerequisite for both peace and development, and you have the three pillars of the United Nations work as set out in the Charter.

Initially, the development agenda was determined by a succession of development decades that were inspired by different concepts of how development could and should be achieved. The turn of the millennium in the year 2000 served as a major point to take stock and refocus our energies. At the end of the Millennium Summit, the General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration which gave us the Millennium Development Goals. There were eight ambitious goals regarding poverty, health, education, gender, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development. On the basis of this new agenda, a collaborative effort by Member States and the UN System yielded some impressive results. Let me just mention a few examples:

1. Two decades ago, nearly half of the developing world lived in extreme poverty. This number has declined by more than half, falling from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015.
2. The world has witnessed dramatic improvement in gender equality in schooling; gender parity in primary school has been achieved in the majority of countries.
3. Globally, the under–five mortality rate dropped from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015.
4. The maternal mortality ratio showed a decline of 45% worldwide, with most of the reduction occurring since 2000.
5. Official development assistance from developed countries saw an increase of 66% in real terms from 2000 to 2014, reaching $135.2 billion.

Despite this impressive progress, important gaps remain: Gender inequality persists in spite of more girls going to school. Women continue to face discrimination in access to work, economic assets and participation in private and public decision–making. Economic cleavages between the poorest and richest households and between rural and urban areas remain deep and have serious implications for those disadvantaged.

In view of these persisting challenges, Member States started discussing how to continue their work beyond the target date of the MDGs. In 2012, at Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, they paved the way for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At the end of a negotiation process that involved our 193 UN Member States and saw unprecedented participation of civil society and other stakeholders, the 17 SDGs were adopted by our Heads of States at the General Assembly in September 2015.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development builds upon the “unfinished agenda of the MDGs” and goes a giant step further. Capitalizing on the success and momentum of the MDGs, the new global goals cover more ground with ambitions to address inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice. There are now 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets, in contrast to the previous eight Millennium Development Goals with 21 targets. This makes the 2030 Agenda much more comprehensive and inclusive.

In a unique way, the SDGs address the interconnected elements of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. They also integrate the three pillars of the UN’s work – peace, human rights, and development - as cross-cutting issues. In short, the 2030 Agenda aims to deliver for People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships. It is clear that an agenda for sustainable development needs to improve conditions for individuals and the environment in which they live. But let me expand a little on the other three Ps. Notably, the emphasis on Prosperity highlights the commitment to equitable development and to making sure that no one is left behind when it comes to improving wealth. The focus on Peace is interesting, because it is based around the notion that there will always be conflict in all societies but that an advanced society will have the capacity to resolve conflict peacefully using the rule of law and with attention to human rights and justice. Finally, by including Partnerships the Member States are calling for implementation that involves multiple actors within transparent and accountable arrangements.

What is also new about the SDGs is that they do not merely target developing countries, but now apply to the entire world, including developed countries. All countries will have to report on implementation. Many of the elements of the SDGs, such as inequality, or environmental aspects that are global in scope, require action by the UK and other governments from the “global North” as well.

The new 2030 Agenda is complemented by a number of major historical international agreements adopted last year. Together, they represent a collective roadmap for humanity: the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Financing for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which was signed last week at UN Headquarters in New York.

With these ambitious strategic frameworks now in place, the test will be on implementation. This will require a radical change in governance at different levels.

Countries are expected to be the main actors in the implementation process of the SDGs, devising their own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes.

They will be assisted by the UN system which will play the role of an activator and facilitator rather than that of an implementor as before. The implementation of this new agenda will require a radical culture change in the way the UN works. Synergies and coherence have to be created. The MAPS approach which stands for Mainstreaming, Acceleration, and Policy Support provides a toolbox for the transformation of our working culture.

Both, national systems and the UN system are structured vertically into technical ministries and specialized international organizations which do not coordinate enough between each other. To live up to the aspirations of the 2030 Agenda, established silos, both in capitals and across our system, have to be torn down to allow for more horizontal work, reflecting the interconnectedness of the topics at hand. A gargantuan task!!

A more collaborative and inclusive approach will be required. Current challenges can no longer be compartmentalized, because power structures are shifting and agreed norms and principles are under enormous pressure. The role of the State as we know it, is being recalibrated and expectations and possibilities for individuals are being transformed due to technological advances. With the current speed and extent of change, on many levels and all at the same time, it is simply an illusion to think that we can continue with business as usual. We need to further strengthen the links with local communities and stakeholder groups, engaging with business, civil society, academic and religious institutions. Addressing today’s challenges with yesterday’s tools is no longer an option.

In short, the 2030 Agenda is encouraging us all to think much more about the connections between issues and partners, and to identify the multipliers that will reinforce cooperation and investments. For example, investing in gender equality has benefits in health, education, environmental stewardship and practically all other areas mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals. Much is to be gained from including women into negotiating peace agreements and implementing them afterwards for example. We are not going to achieve our objectives unless we truly involve the other half of humanity.

Other levels of governance are also becoming more important. By 2050, around 75% of the world’s population will be living in cities. Increasingly, key decisions affecting citizens will be taken more and more at city level. To avoid a disconnect between the local level, including city administrations, and the international level, Parliaments will need to be increasingly involved. They are the point of entry for global agreements to be translated into national policies. They have a lot of potential to be critical brokers in the new frameworks that are being put into place including towards their own Government by asking Ministries to collaborate more and better and holding them to account.

We also see a rise in the role and impact of regional organizations, fostering interaction between national institutions across regions. In trade for example, the number of Regional Trade agreements in force has increased steadily, while global trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization have stalled. At the global level, there are more examples of such attempts to bypass established institutions. New arrangements, such as the G7, G8, or G20 have been created to overcome specific deadlocks, even though they may themselves face challenges and their legitimacy may be questioned.

The emergence of these alternative fora is ultimately a symptom of the lack of functioning governance mechanisms. Governance systems and structures, dating back to the post Second World War period, are outdated and no longer reflect current realities. The most salient example may be the Security Council that is justly criticized for its lack of ability to address global issues of peace and security.

Similar tendencies can be observed at national and local levels, where the general public feels that ‘authorities’ do not deliver and have lost their integrity. The mechanisms of accountability and justice are not keeping up. In addition, growing inequalities have led to a trust deficit – to me, one of the most serious problems the world is facing in its attempts to recalibrate governance structures at all levels.

As a result, populist and protest movements are on the rise as individuals look for alternative ways of making their voices heard. The resulting divisive narrative of “us against them” dangerously undermines the fact that our common future in an interconnected world demands a shared responsibility.

Drawing together the actors and issues of multilateral governance at a time of increasing fragmentation is a primary challenge for the United Nations today. It cannot do this as long as the United Nations system itself is fragmented and static.

Seventy years ago, the United Nations was established as the organization dealing with all problems beyond national borders. In 2016, it is one actor among many who work across national boundaries and across issues. In many areas the United Nations itself will continue to provide the services no other actor can or wants to deliver. It has the experience, expertise and human capital to do so. But to increase effectiveness, we need institutional reform to make our decision-making more representative, more legitimate and more credible. The UN has unique convening power that can bridge fragmentation and differences and is able to bring together a wide variety of actors. The current, but ageing Westphalian model of governance will have to be complemented by the inclusion of non-State actors, including NGOs, the private sector and academia, who will need to be at the decision making table.

We need new ways of working through inclusive partnerships, horizontal and cross cutting cooperation. The much needed ‘whole of governance approach’ has to be completed with the ‘whole of society approach’. The 2030 Agenda is a great opportunity to adjust our systems and structures to the new way of doing business.

To make use of the opportunity that this new agenda offers us, it is absolutely essential that as many people around the world as possible are aware of the 17 goals. Local ownership of the process will be crucial, and the new partnerships will only be formed if all potential partners are aware of the possibilities and incentives they have to join the collective effort. Across the United Nations system, we are therefore launching information campaigns aiming to have 2 billion people informed about the 2030 Agenda by the end of 2017.

In Geneva, where many of the technical organizations are based that will be key in the implementation process, we are very much involved in these communication efforts. One example of what we are doing is the collection and provision of data on the SDGs from different actors across the city on a website which we are soon launching, and which may be of great use to researchers like yourselves. This data is available on www.gvadata.ch

The seventeen Global Goals touch upon each individual’s daily life. They encompass all the major issues on the agenda of the international community and their implementation will be crucial for us to get a handle on the increasingly protracted conflicts and fragmentation in international affairs. The 2030 Agenda is therefore of utmost importance to the research conducted by institutions like yours, and so is your research for well-informed policies on our way to achieving the goals. We all have a role to play in making the 2030 Agenda happen. Together, we can make a difference and every one of us has a responsibility to do so.

I thank you very much.