Your Excellency Mr. CHIN Young, Minister of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea,Your Excellency Mr. BAN Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the 51³Ô¹Ï.Mr. Park Jun-Ha, Vice Mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City,Distinguished Participants,Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great honor to welcome you to the Third Regional Symposium on Leveraging Public Governance to Accelerate the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals ¨C Transformation, Innovation & Inclusion.
I wish to express my appreciation to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea, and to the Incheon Metropolitan City, for their excellent support for this event. This is the Third Regional Symposium organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Project Office on Governance (UNPOG).
The Regional Symposium has become an important platform for Member States to share knowledge about bridging capacity gaps and adopting innovative practices. This is helping to pave the way for more effective South-South and North-South partnerships to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
I attended this Regional Symposium in 2017 and 2018. I am pleased to witness that every year the Symposium attracts a higher number of participants from across the region ¨C including governments, public institutions, civil society organizations, academia and the private sector.
This attests to the significance of the event. The follow-up actions from the previous regional symposia have also demonstrated the positive impact of the discussions, notably in mainstreaming the SDGs and adopting innovative ideas in public service delivery.
Excellencies,
World leaders gathered at the 51³Ô¹Ï during the High-level week of the 74th session of the General Assembly in September to launch an accelerated response to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The SDG Summit was the overarching event of the High-level week of the General Assembly. We witnessed great cause for optimism in the commitment to the 2030 Agenda seen at the highest level of government and among many stakeholders. This was evident in the adoption by consensus of the Political Declaration, and in the launch of a Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.
To be sure, achieving sustainable development is facing formidable challenges. There is a sense of urgency as the world is not on track to meet the SDGs. Slowing economic growth, rising inequality and the devastating effects of climate change are placing at risk the prospects of a better future for all. Yet there is a strong conviction that we can still reach the Goals of the 2030 Agenda if we accelerate our actions.
Strengthening institutions for more integrated solutions is one key SDG accelerator. Our governance systems and policies must be transformed to support more inclusive societies that benefit people of all ages. Effective, accountable and transparent institutions can ensure more responsive and inclusive decision-making processes.
Indeed, there are many innovative policies emerging across the region on how to make public institutions more effective, accountable and inclusive. These are in line with Sustainable Development Goal 16, and with the 11 principles of effective governance for sustainable development, which were endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in 2018.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The holistic and universal 2030 Agenda provides an integrated framework for the SDGs. That is why mainstreaming the SDGs at the national level helps to ensure a coordinated approach across government structures.
At the same time, strengthening public institutions must be coupled with public sector innovation. Advancements in technology characterized by Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics, provide huge potential for developing countries to improve public services and transform governance.
Yet, leveraging frontier technologies for agile governance and better public service delivery, call for an ecosystem that addresses both opportunities and risks associated with new technologies. This, in turn, requires collaboration with the private sector, particularly with the ICT industries, civil society organizations and citizens.
I also wish to highlight that public sector innovation cannot happen without competent and motivated public servants. It is necessary to equip public servants with the capacities to bolster cooperation across government departments. It is therefore essential that public servants are motivated to do their best and strive for excellence.
Many countries in the region have started to reshape civil service with reforms aimed at integrating sustainable development principles into public administration. Public servants are at the front line of service delivery. That is why strengthening the capacities of public servants is key to the success of any institutional reform.
It is also important to ensure that public services are gender sensitive. Women play an important role in decision-making processes and must be given a fair chance to ascend to leadership positions.
Distinguished participants,
Through this Regional Symposium, I hope you will be able to learn from one another, how to address these numerous challenges. I hope, moreover, that you gain new insights on how to accelerate SDG implementation through governance transformation and enhanced innovation, inclusive public service delivery and policy making processes.
I wish you a productive Symposium.
Thank you.
It is my great honor to welcome you to the Third Regional Symposium on Leveraging Public Governance to Accelerate the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals ¨C Transformation, Innovation & Inclusion.
I wish to express my appreciation to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea, and to the Incheon Metropolitan City, for their excellent support for this event. This is the Third Regional Symposium organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Project Office on Governance (UNPOG).
The Regional Symposium has become an important platform for Member States to share knowledge about bridging capacity gaps and adopting innovative practices. This is helping to pave the way for more effective South-South and North-South partnerships to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
I attended this Regional Symposium in 2017 and 2018. I am pleased to witness that every year the Symposium attracts a higher number of participants from across the region ¨C including governments, public institutions, civil society organizations, academia and the private sector.
This attests to the significance of the event. The follow-up actions from the previous regional symposia have also demonstrated the positive impact of the discussions, notably in mainstreaming the SDGs and adopting innovative ideas in public service delivery.
Excellencies,
World leaders gathered at the 51³Ô¹Ï during the High-level week of the 74th session of the General Assembly in September to launch an accelerated response to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The SDG Summit was the overarching event of the High-level week of the General Assembly. We witnessed great cause for optimism in the commitment to the 2030 Agenda seen at the highest level of government and among many stakeholders. This was evident in the adoption by consensus of the Political Declaration, and in the launch of a Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.
To be sure, achieving sustainable development is facing formidable challenges. There is a sense of urgency as the world is not on track to meet the SDGs. Slowing economic growth, rising inequality and the devastating effects of climate change are placing at risk the prospects of a better future for all. Yet there is a strong conviction that we can still reach the Goals of the 2030 Agenda if we accelerate our actions.
Strengthening institutions for more integrated solutions is one key SDG accelerator. Our governance systems and policies must be transformed to support more inclusive societies that benefit people of all ages. Effective, accountable and transparent institutions can ensure more responsive and inclusive decision-making processes.
Indeed, there are many innovative policies emerging across the region on how to make public institutions more effective, accountable and inclusive. These are in line with Sustainable Development Goal 16, and with the 11 principles of effective governance for sustainable development, which were endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in 2018.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The holistic and universal 2030 Agenda provides an integrated framework for the SDGs. That is why mainstreaming the SDGs at the national level helps to ensure a coordinated approach across government structures.
At the same time, strengthening public institutions must be coupled with public sector innovation. Advancements in technology characterized by Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics, provide huge potential for developing countries to improve public services and transform governance.
Yet, leveraging frontier technologies for agile governance and better public service delivery, call for an ecosystem that addresses both opportunities and risks associated with new technologies. This, in turn, requires collaboration with the private sector, particularly with the ICT industries, civil society organizations and citizens.
I also wish to highlight that public sector innovation cannot happen without competent and motivated public servants. It is necessary to equip public servants with the capacities to bolster cooperation across government departments. It is therefore essential that public servants are motivated to do their best and strive for excellence.
Many countries in the region have started to reshape civil service with reforms aimed at integrating sustainable development principles into public administration. Public servants are at the front line of service delivery. That is why strengthening the capacities of public servants is key to the success of any institutional reform.
It is also important to ensure that public services are gender sensitive. Women play an important role in decision-making processes and must be given a fair chance to ascend to leadership positions.
Distinguished participants,
Through this Regional Symposium, I hope you will be able to learn from one another, how to address these numerous challenges. I hope, moreover, that you gain new insights on how to accelerate SDG implementation through governance transformation and enhanced innovation, inclusive public service delivery and policy making processes.
I wish you a productive Symposium.
Thank you.
File date:
Thursday, November 21, 2019