2019 – part2 – 7 – 12

33/ DDG Agah: International community must redouble efforts to help meet SDGs

16 July 2019

Speaking at the United Nations’ High-level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York on 16 July 2019, Deputy Director-General Yonov Frederick Agah called for greater cooperation among international organizations to help revitalize the global partnership for development and to deliver the SDGs. His remarks were delivered at a side-event co-organized with the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the International Trade Centre to discuss progress on making trade better contribute to sustainable development.

DDG Agah said:

“Trade was vital in delivering the Millennium Development Goal to halve extreme poverty. UN Secretary-General Guterres recognized this fact when he addressed WTO members just a couple of months ago. And he pleaded that we redouble our efforts to ensure that we can play the same role in delivering the SDGs. We must heed his plea, and we can’t just assume that this will happen. We have to work at it. And we have to be prepared to look at how we can do things better.”

He continued:

“I am a firm believer that when nations trade together and frame their cooperative relations by rules that are agreed multilaterally, we all benefit, particularly the smaller and weakest.

“International organizations must follow the road of cooperation, as mandated by SDG 17, to revitalize the global partnership for development.

“The current discussions on WTO reform reflect members’ recognition of the need to make the multilateral trading system more inclusive, equitable and transparent, including addressing the challenges faced in decision making with such a diverse membership.”

Source: wto.org