Mr President,
Italy aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union and would like to add the following remarks in national capacity.
We congratulate you on your appointment as Chair, and extend the assurance of our support to you and to all the Bureau members. As we look forward to our work and deliberations in of this committee, let me first mark three points:
Let me make three brief points.
- First, INSTITUTIONS. Effective, accountable and transparent institutions are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. Italy was honored to host the annual SDG 16 High-Level Conference in May with UN DESA and IDLO, gathering representatives from governments, judiciary institutions, international organizations, civil society, academia, local communities, and practitioners. We will keep advocating for accelerating progress in this domain.
- Second, PARTNERSHIPS. If we want to deliver at scale we need to lean on robust alliances, based on trust and peer-to-peer dialogue. Though the “Mattei Plan for Africa” Italy is implementing a collaborative form of partnership to support investments and socio-economic development in and with our partner countries, with the support of the private sector and the financial institutions. We are also supporting “Lobito Corridor” to build public-private partnerships and attract investments in infrastructure development in LLDCs. In parallel, through our long-standing partnership with the Pacific and Caribbean SIDS and the establishment of the Joint Committees we work together to identify projects of common interests to tackle the specific vulnerabilities of the regions and respond to climate change and energy and infrastructure challenges.
- Third and last, OPPORTUNITIES. In a moment where multilateralism is under unprecedented pressure, we want to give a strong signal that we can work as one on issues of common interest and concern, with a strong focus at the country level. Agri-food systems and digital transformation are a case in point to showcase this approach. Last July in Addis Ababa we had the honor to be the co-organizers, together with Ethiopia, of the UNFSS+4 resulting in the SG Call to Action “From Rome to Addis and Beyond” that highlighted 6 areas of urgent investment and placed local and rural communities, food producers, small and women farmers at the center of the stage. In parallel, we endeavor to cross the new frontiers of digital transformation with the opening of the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, which will involve hundreds of African start-ups in the development of artificial intelligence.
Let’s be united to deliver.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
