New perspectives on poverty eradication – insights for sustainable recovery
Joint meeting of the Second Committee and the Economic and Social Council
Conference Room 2, Tuesday, 11 October 2022, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Statement of Italy, delivered by Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Thank you Madame Chair, and of course Italy aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union and we wish to add a couple of points on national capacity.
I agree with the friend and colleague Permanent Representative from Pakistan that we need to focus on solutions and to this end it seems to me two points are really crucial: one is of course financial resources, the other one is the implementation of political commitment.
On the financial resources, money needs to be mobilized and channelled effectively to eradicate poverty and promote a sustainable recovery.
It is therefore more urgent than ever before to increase and intensify global cooperation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has erased years of progress in poverty eradication, with extreme poverty increasing again for the first time in a generation. Now, the “perfect storm” is hitting especially the most vulnerable people and the most vulnerable Countries, further worsening the global situation.
It is therefore more urgent than ever before to increase and intensify global cooperation to eradicate all forms of poverty. As recalled, the EU and its Member States are already the biggest ODA provider, ODA that has actually increased over the last years by traditional donors. We call on all other donors and Member States in the capacity to do so to increase international cooperation and development assistance. In 2021, Italy has increased by 34.5% our ODA in real terms in value, maintaining priority for the most vulnerable and least developed countries, and provided 68,8% of our ODA as core contributions to multilateral organizations, including most recently by increasing core resources to the UN Funds and Programs. Italy has committed to allocating 4 billion USD (20% of our share of Special Drawing Rights) to help those countries most in need, 1.4 billion of which will be channelled into the FMI’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust.
The other point is implementation, as I said, of political commitment. Last July, with the HLPF Ministerial Declaration, we all committed to “targeted measures and partnerships related to poverty eradication” linked to all areas of the 2030 Agenda. Recalling the theme of this year’s 2nd Committee, it is now time to transform this political commitment into action. This will be a critical area, also heading towards the SDG Summit.
I thank you.
