More balanced and equal development required for 2030 Agenda to succeed

A high-level event that explored how socioeconomic development can be achieved in a balanced and equitable way was held on Monday, 16 July as a side event of the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development. Participants discussed how to pursue economic, social and environmental objectives in an integrated manner and said that more needs to be done to ‘leave no one behind’.
<p>“While extreme poverty has been reduced considerably in the past decades, there are pockets of the world where it still stubbornly persists, with one-third of people living in extreme poverty in Southern Asia,” said DESA Under-Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin, stressing the importance of addressing such uneven development.</p>
<p>“Another unbalance in our development approach is the predominant focus on economic wellbeing, while in fact, nature is indispensable for human survival and well-being,” highlighted Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.</p>
<p>Mr. Ma Zhaoxu, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations, noted that “We must improve global economic governance and to increase presentation and voice of developing countries to allow equal participation in rules-making in the international system.”</p>
<p>UNDP and UN DESA presented their partnership on “Supporting the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Asia-Pacific”, which is supported by the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF) and aims to assist the establishment of essential building blocks for implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The partnership seeks to strengthen the capacity of countries to formulate, implement, review and report on integrated and coherent policies to implement the 2030 Agenda.</p>
<h3>The United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund</h3>
<p>The United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF) was established in 2016, following the pledge by the Government of the People’s Republic of China of US$200 million over a ten-year period. The United Nations and the Donor Government aim to work together to achieve the goals of the Charter of the United Nations through implementation of innovative, forward-looking and pro-active projects and activities financed by UNPDF.</p>
<p>UNPDF has two sub-Funds. The Secretary-General's Peace and Security Sub-Fund, managed by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, is aimed at financing projects and activities related to the maintenance of international peace and security. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub-Fund, managed by UN DESA, is to finance projects and activities in support of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.</p>
<p>The projects and activities to be funded by UNPDF are approved by the Secretary-General, upon the advice of a Steering Committee made up of representatives from the United Nations Secretariat and the Donor Government. Since its inception, UNPDF has supported 46 projects amounting US$41 million.</p>
<p>Further Information on the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund: <a href="http://www.un.org/en/unpdf/&quot; target="_blank">http://www.un.org/en/unpdf/</a></p&gt;