ECOSOC PARTNERSHIP FORUM
31 January 2023
Statement by Italy
Thank you Madame President, Excellencies,
Italy aligns itself with the statement delivered by the Permanent Representative of Sweden, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
Italy, as current ECOSOC Vice President, warmly welcomes this first formal opportunity that the platform of the Partnership Forum offers for a fruitful exchange of opinions among ECOSOC members, the broader UN membership and numerous stakeholders on our shared priorities for 2023. We are confident that our discussion today, as well as the discussions that we will have in the Coordination Segment tomorrow and on Thursday, will also positively inspire the content of the next HLPF Political Declaration and the works of the SDG Summit of next September.
As the world has approached the mid-term point of the 2030 Agenda and struggles to build back better in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 will be a crucial year for advancing in the implementation of the SDGs, which is unfortunately off track.
Our level of ambition has to be consistent with the multiple crises we are facing. The last two years dealt a major blow to the world’s economy and lower-income countries were hit particularly hard. In this context, it is imperative to find multilateral solutions that can accelerate progress on achieving the SDGs and cater for the needs of least developed countries. This year a series of important UN events are going to take place, starting from the UN Water Conference and the Doha Conference, to give but a few upcoming examples.
Enhanced partnerships with the private sector and relevant stakeholders in general can play a major role, especially when it comes to the matter of financing the most needed actions. Partnerships are at the very core of Italy’s development cooperation policy and strategies. The relevant Italian law established a National Council that groups together both profit and non-profit actors in development cooperation, thus envisaging regular multi-stakeholder consultations. Last July, Italy presented its Voluntary National Review. To this end, we conducted a process of wide consultations with civil society and the private sector. We are open to sharing our experiences and best practices in developing and reinforcing partnerships.
We look forward to working with you all in all the relevant UN events in the months to come.
Thank you.
