UN Deputy Secretary-General's Remarks at the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development
Beirut, 5 March 2024- H.E. Mr. Majib Mikati, Prime Minister of Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Said Al Saqri, Minister of Economy, Sultanate of Oman, and Chair of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development IN 2024, H.E. Ms. Paula Narváez, President of ECOSOC, Ms. Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Ms. Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary General, League of Arab States, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I congratulate the Government of the Sultanate of Oman for presiding.
I also would like to thank the Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Ms. Rola Dashti, for bringing us together at a critical moment of our annual stocktake.
Our world is facing complex challenges.
In particular, the geopolitical tensions, conflict and instability which are causing untold human suffering right here in the Arab region.
Persistent and recurrent conflicts and fragility are directly impacting 182 million people in nine countries in this region[1] and exacerbating the refugee crisis.
The war in Gaza is the latest example. Since October, the war has taken the lives of over 29,000 people. And 43% of them are children. Children with lives, with hopes, with aspirations that are being cut short. The fatalities among medical personnel, journalists and UN colleagues continue to rise.
Challenges like this remind us that there can be no sustainable development without peace.
And truly sustainable development — here in the Arab world, and across the globe — remains a very long way off.
More than halfway to the deadline of the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs are severely off-track, globally and in the Arab region.
In addition to the conflicts that I have mentioned, we see high levels of inequality, economic stagnation, poverty, hunger and limited institutional accountability to support development.
The cost-of-living crisis has had severe socio-economic impacts, notably on food, energy and financing.
Exacerbated by global inflation and slow economic growth, extreme poverty in the region has more than doubled since 2015, exceeding 20 per cent in 2023. The region also has the highest rate of unemployment in the world, at 10.7%.
In 2021, a third of the Arab population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity.
The Arab region’s progress is also held back by a growing financing gap. Fiscal constraints, high borrowing costs, and debt burdens are placing up to half of the Arab countries at high risk of debt distress, with some already caught in it. Public debt increased sharply over the last decade, reaching a staggering level of USD 1.5 trillion in 2022, while debt servicing consumes as much as 40% of our revenues.
Meanwhile, our droughts, floods, the sand and dust storms, and other climate and environmental challenges are constraining economies and threatening societies, while 90 per cent of the Arab population lives in countries that are grappling with water scarcity.
The greenhouse gas emissions in the Arab region have increased by 68 per cent between 2000 and 2020, twice as fast as the global trend.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, against this backdrop, there are signs of hope.
At the SDG Summit last September, governments endorsed a Political Declaration that called for an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion a year, and reforms to the global financial architecture to make it more equitable, resilient, responsive and accessible to everyone.
But the Declaration is only the first step.
We need to ramp up action around policies and investments that can drive transformative change.
Many Arab countries are already accelerating efforts around key transformations — from clean energy, food systems, to digitization, social protection reforms and economic diversification.
But allow me to go a little deeper into five of these transitions.
First, inclusive and sustainable energy coupled with climate action.
The Arab region has made progress in universalizing access to energy services — from 89 per cent in 2015 to 91 per cent in 2021.
And we’re seeing positive examples of sustainable energy development — including Egypt's Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy for 2035 and Morocco's Global Rural Electrification Programme.
But across the region, reliance on fossil fuels remains too high, and the use of renewable energy far too low.
Renewable energy accounted for just 5.1 per cent of the Arab region’s total energy consumption in 2020 – this is the lowest share of any region globally.
This represents a key opportunity for investors to help support renewable energy systems.
More broadly, these investments must be supported by ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions, as called for in COP28. These updated plans must include clear steps for transitions that are economy wide to a renewable future.
Second, food security and sustainable food systems.
The challenges faced by our food systems are not easily overcome. But many Arab countries have taken steps to embed food systems across all national sustainable development strategies and plans.
The United Arab Emirates and Jordan are two inspiring examples.
Third, decent jobs and social protection.
Just 35.1 per cent of the Arab region’s population was covered by at least one social protection programme in 2020.
But again, some countries are showing what is possible.
This includes Oman's recent reforms to establish universal, government-financed social protection benefits for older persons, persons with disabilities, and children.
And it includes Bahrain’s Tamkeen Labour Fund and Tunisia's programmes to extend social protection work.
Fourth, education.
A cornerstone for everyone’s development.
Arab countries have made progress in expanding access to schooling and reducing the gender gaps. But inequalities and uneven education quality persist.
We are encouraging all countries to deliver on their national commitments and actively participate in the Transforming Education Summit.
And fifth, digital connectivity and literacy.
The divide between and within countries of the Arab region remains huge. Internet access and mobile penetration gaps are persisting between poor and well-off, rural and urban areas, male and female users.
Harnessing the benefit requires investment in public infrastructure.
We are urging all countries to take action to close the digital divide, which is so critical for a sustainable future for all.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Across these important transitions, our presence in your countries and the regional capacities here represented with ESCWA are ready to help you forge investment paths, shape policy and regulatory frameworks, and we are committed to helping you garner the support you need from multilateral and regional development banks — as well as leverage the private investors — this will scale up the financing that is essential for development projects.
But at this session, we want to continue to harvest the ideas and input as we reform the global governance of the future.
The September Summit of the Future is an opportunity to strengthen the role of global cooperation in supporting sustainable development, peace and human rights for all.
And today that may seem a distant aspiration. But it is hopeful. The Summit of the Future seeks to turn that around. As your countries invest in transitions and transformations that we are discussing today, let’s keep our gaze also on the future. Let’s build a more supportive global environment for health, peace and sustainable development.
Finally, let us remember the children of Gaza. Those that we have lost, and those that survive. And amplify our voices to end the carnage in Gaza. And to return to a peaceful process for a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel living side by side in peace.
Thank you.
[1] Comoros, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
