From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, New York
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, (SSAP-SDGs) Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has joined leaders and experts from around the world to call for increased investments and alignments of resources from public, private, domestic, and other sources to accelerate progress on the delivery of 2030 Agenda.
She made the call while speaking at a high-level event held at the margins of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) in New York tagged, “Accelerating SDGs Progress Through National Financing Strategies and Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs).”
The event was planned by the governments of Nigeria and Indonesia in conjunction with important partners such as the INFF Facility, UNDP, UNDESA, UNICEF, and the International Budget Partnership (IBP) with the intention of shedding light on the crucial role that national financing strategies and INFFs play in achieving SDGs.
In addition, it offered a forum for nations to discuss their financing-related experiences, problems, and solutions, advancing the global dialogue on how INFFs and national financing strategies can advance the SDGs in the second half of the time frame for their completion.
In her remarks, Orelope-Adefulire praised the UN and other development partners for their dedication to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its potential to transform the world.
She pointed out that Nigeria has incorporated the SDGs into important policy documents, including the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the Economic Sustainability Plan, the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, and the National Development Plan, in line with its aspirations for national development.
Highlighting Nigeria’s pioneering role, Orelope-Adefulire noted that the country made history with the launch of her INFF Report at the UNGA last year. She stressed that the INFF serves as a vital planning tool to enhance sustainable development financing at the national levels, in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
She reaffirmed Nigeria’s dedication to utilising the INFF framework, particularly in light of the world’s fiscal difficulties. She emphasised the necessity for investments in the public sector to be in line with the SDGs and the need of mobilising both local and foreign resources to support sustainable development.
Orelope-Adefulire also expressed Nigeria’s intent to prioritize investments with multiplier effects on all the SDGs and to strengthen partnerships with the United Nations Development system, the private sector, and non-state actors with the aim of fostering a collaborative “whole of society” approach to implementing the INFF Roadmap in Nigeria.
She restated Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to advancing the SDGs.
Also speaking, Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships, UNICEF, Kitty van der Heijden, noted that INFF is significant as an instrument for prioritizing expenditures in favour of social and environmental sectors in an inclusive way.
She commended Nigeria in particular for its efforts to determine whether budgetary allocations at the national and subnational levels may be in line with the SDGs.
Heijden added that in addition to the UN Secretary-General’s need for SDG stimulation, more ODA investment, more development lending, and more contingency finance all at once, countries require a smart mix of public and private resources to carry out the SDGs.
Under Secretary-General and Associate Administrator, UNDP, Haoliang Xu, reaffirmed this position and stated that Nigeria’s work is a commendable model for other UN member-states to follow.
The High-Level event featured other distinguished speakers, including Ms. Raden Siliwanti, Director for Multilateral Funding at the Ministry of National Development Planning in Indonesia, Mr. Li Junhua, Under Secretary-General of UNDESA, Mansur Mukhtar, former Minister of Finance, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations and former President of the 74th session of the UNGA, Ms. Ana Patricia Muñoz, Executive Director of IBP, Ms. Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen, Vice President of the Office of Development Policy, and Mr. Patrick Rabe, UN Partnerships Team Lead at the European Commission.