ECA ECLAC ESCAP ESCWA UNECE Introduction to the Report of the Secretary-General on Regional cooperation in the economic, social and related fields Amr Nour Regional Commissions NY Office United Nations Headquarters 25 July 2016
Outline (E/2016/15) Regional perspectives on the Global Agenda: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Seven Focus Areas Developments in Selected Areas of Regional and Interregional Cooperation: Additional Policy issues; RCM; Interregional Coop among Regcoms
Mandates for the Regional Commissions: Assist Member States in: ØA balanced integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development ØImplementation of SDGs including through data collection, reliable statistics, integrated and evidence based analysis ØFollow-up and review of the AAAA Ø Follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda, including through support to HLPF Ø Capacity development, including to maximize the benefits and impact of South-South and triangular cooperation
Seven Key Areas of Support 1. Integrating SDGs into national development planning and fiscal frameworks 2. Promoting policy coherence, consistency and coordination 3. Enhancement of data and statistical capacities of MS for implementation of the 2030 Agenda 4. Identify and promote alternative and innovative sources of financing for development 5. Leverage science, technology and innovation in support of Agenda 2030 6. Tapping South-South and regional partnerships 7. Translating regional models into global public goods FUR MOI
Integration of the 2030 Agenda and the SDG s into the RegComs programmes of work Mapping Exercise by UNECE Other RegComs conducted similar exercises, including for targets
1. Integrating SDGs into national development planning and fiscal frameworks Ø Assisting in conceptual understanding and analysis of cross-cutting and emerging issues Ø Providing support for the formal modeling necessary to integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development Ø Translating global commitments into regional transformative strategies and agendas Specific action ESCAP introduced a new Multidimensional Inclusiveness Index and conceptual study of balanced integration for SD ECA addressed implementation of Africa Vision 2063 in terms of planning, mobilizing and financing for African Development ECLAC developed a repository for the long-term vision/national development plans of its regional economies Partnerships Share methodologies, knowledge and best practices with the wider United Nations Development System
2. Promoting policy coherence, consistency and coordination - RFSD Ø Providing countries with one-stop shops for policy advice to facilitate integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development Ø Offering technical cooperation to implement the SDGs Ø Operationalizing the means of implementation at the regional, subregional and country levels Specific action Regional/subregional integrated analysis and reporting Multi-disciplinary policy advice Regional Forums on Sustainable Development (RFSDs) Partnerships Deepening partnerships with regional and subregional organizations Mobilizing RCM and enhanced interaction and cooperation with R/UNDG for national-regional nexus FUR convened by the RegComs with regional and other partners with multi-stakeholder participation (civil society, private sector, academia, etc.)
Complement national FUR RFSDs Inclusive regional FUR platforms Feed into global FUR Regional Follow-up and Review FUR in ECE Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD) (2014-2016) Inputs from subregional bodies (ASEAN, SAARC etc) Subsidiary bodies of ESCAP as FUR platforms for specific SDGs National-Regional-Global Nexus Regional FUR platform designed as docking station Integrate other regional and subregional actors Inclusive, multi-stakeholder nature Bring together existing review mechanisms FUR in ESCAP FUR in ESCWA FUR in ECLAC Forum of the Countries of LAC on SD established (Mexico Commission s Session, 23-27 May 2016) Arab Forum on Sustainable Development (ArFSD) (2014-2016) Organized in coordination with the League of Arab States (LAS) and Regional Coordination Mechanism Inputs from subsidiary bodies of ESCWA and other sectoral or thematic reviews to feed into ArFSD FUR in ECA African Forum on Sustainable Development (AFSD) (2015-2016) Inputs from ECA and AU specialized technical committees Align Africa 2063 Agenda and incorporate African Development Goals into FUR
3. Enhancement of data and statistical capacities of Member States for implementation of the 2030 Agenda Ø Assessing data and statistical gaps in measurement of the SDGs Ø Collecting, analyzing and disseminating data and statistics for SDG implementation Ø Managing technical cooperation programs for building capacities in data and indicators Specific action ECLAC services the Statistical Conference of the Americas: platform for knowledge sharing, disseminating methodologies and capacity building throughout the region ECE hosted the Conference of European Statisticians: produced recommendations on measuring sustainable development, climate and gender statistics ESCWA concentrates efforts on broadening the use of new data sources in the Arab region and supporting official statistics in the context of conflict Partnerships UN Statistics Division (UNSD) of DESA, UN Statistical Commission, and Regional Conferences of statistics Regional statistical organizations Eurostat, PARIS21, AfriStat, AfDB, AITRS, SESRIC, GCC-Stat Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data Working with other specialized UN agencies such as FAO, UNICEF, UNFPA and ILO to develop sector-specific data
4. Identify and promote alternative and innovative sources of financing for development Ø Experience-sharing and capacity building to promote DRM, including tax reforms, capital market development and international tax cooperation Ø Improving enabling environments for trade and finance flows Ø Working on SME finance and financial inclusion, developing approaches to the challenges of middle income countries, promoting public-private partnerships, addressing the challenges of illicit financial flows and strengthening regional financing arrangements Specific action ESCAP is launching the Asia and Pacific Tax Forum to encourage enhancement in tax/gdp ratios and municipal finances ECLAC to further leverage its annual regional seminar on fiscal and financial policies ECA is assisting countries to estimate illicit financial flows Partnerships Convening regional consultations on financing for development, with support from ministries of finance, central banks, the private sector, civil society, regional development institutions and regional think tanks
5. Leverage science, technology and innovation in support of Agenda 2030 Ø Holding regional ministerial conferences on STI Ø Leveraging advanced regional STI hubs to offer best practices and share experience in STI policymaking, standard-setting and in the creation of legislation to nurture knowledge-sharing on sustainable technologies and promote ICT connectivity Ø Supporting Member States in building resilience to the impacts of climate variability and change Specific action Partnerships ECA supports Senior Expert Dialogues to assess the role of STI and ICT in socio-economic transformation ECE s Committee on Innovation, Competitiveness and PPP promotes innovation development policies and carries out innovation performance reviews ESCAP s regional institutions for STI (APCTT and APCICT) disseminate and build capacities for sustainable and ICT technologies Partnerships in STI research and capacity building with DESA, WIPO, UNIDO, UNCTAD, the World Bank, UNESCO and ITU ESCAP member of interagency working group of Technology Facilitation Mechanism
6. Tapping South-South and regional partnerships Ø Proactively harnessing South-South Cooperation (SSC) both within and beyond the respective regions Ø Building on established relationships and evolving partnerships for further research, identification of policy tools and incentive frameworks, best practice and knowledge sharing Ø Gearing regional institutes to further reinforce the work of the Commissions Specific regional partnerships ECE s International PPP center of Excellence guided government and businesses in implementation of PPPs ECLAC s REDATAM software processes and analyzes geo-referenced census and demographics micro-data as instruments of SSC ESCAP s Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness, funded through triangular cooperation, strengthens the capacities of Member States in multi-hazard early warning and coastal resilience building
7. Translating regional models into global public goods Ø Producing SDG-related outputs, such as legally binding intergovernmental agreements, norms and standards, good practice guidelines, etc. Ø Can act as models for similar approaches in other regions Ø Become global public goods available for all UN Member States and used increasingly all over the world Specific action Conventions and standards of ECE are available for all UN Member States Ø Including transport agreements, environmental conventions, recommendations on trade facilitation, agricultural standards, etc (UNECE Aarhus Convention on Rio Principal 10) Ø Regcoms methodological work broadly shared (eg. ECLAC s Damage and Loss Assessment Methodology (DALA) for disaster assessment and its methodolgy for modernizing systems for processing and disseminating data; ECA on IFF; etc)
Part II. Developments in Selected Areas of Regional and Interregional Cooperation Support to Climate Change: Economics of Climate Change and CC Finance ECOSOC mandated RCM continue to promote coherence and coordination in support of 2030 ASD, including as a critical bridge to regional and Subregl partners Enhanced collaboration among the Regcoms; ESs met five times in the second half of 2015 and five times so far in 2016 (incl four VTcs)
E/2016/15/Add.1: Resolutions for the Regcoms Sessions Four Resolutions for endorsements by the Council Three relate to Support by the respective Regional Commissions to their MS for the implementation and FUR of 2030 ASD (ESCWA, ESCAP and ECLAC) Venue of ECLAC next Commission session
Thank you www.regionalcommissions.org