UNCTAD15 Civil Society Forum: Opening ceremony
22 September 2021
Members of the Civil Society,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
I welcome you to the Civil Society Forum of the 15th Conference of UNCTAD, whose theme “From inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all” is now more urgent than ever.
This is only my second week as UNCTAD’s Secretary General. With time you will get to know me, but I take this opportunity now to assure you that I come with a great sense of responsibility, deeply aware of the incredibly testing times that we are in. We stand at a critical moment in the history of multilateralism, in the history of the United Nations, and in the history of UNCTAD itself.
The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be one of the largest challenges of our generation, producing big setbacks in the hard-won progress made in combatting poverty and inequality and in advancing sustainable development. This crisis is not over, and many developing regions are seriously facing the prospect of another ‘lost decade’, exactly at the time when efforts towards achieving the 2030 Agenda should be coming into full gear.
The work ahead is great. As shown by our Trade and Development Report, released last week, we are witnessing a very divergent global recovery, with advanced countries growing and vaccinating at rates that are multiples of those in the developing world in a word: if we follow the current trajectory, this is a recovery that will leave many people behind, a recovery that will not comply with our values and mandate here at UNCTAD. This will not be “prosperity for all”.
Behind this divergence lurks one of the greatest lessons of this pandemic. Where there is inequality, there is fragility, and when shocks come, gaps widen, and those that were already suffering, suffer the most. In a world where shocks are increasingly common, we must see that the pre-pandemic "business as usual" was leading us only to the mirage of progress, to development that was temporary and therefore unsustainable. That is why we include the word resilience more and more in our sustainable development goals because shocks should not shock us any longer.
Dear friends,
We need a new path forward, and this is a path in which each and everyone of us must feel empowered to help and participate. This includes you in the civil society, one of our key stakeholders, both at large and through our conference. Because if we want new solutions we need new voices, new perspectives, and new debates.
I am aware as I think you are too, of the special role UNCTAD is called to play in the response to this deeply unequal crisis. UNCTAD is an institution that is uniquely mandated to channel the voice of developing countries around the world – of developing countries not as debtors, or as passive recipients of aid, but as proactive members of the multilateral community
The international responses to the COVID-19 crisis are still emerging, being negotiated, and agreed to, and all of us are called upon to participate, with conviction, integrity and devotion. Because let me be clear about this: an international response without these voices would be incomplete, insufficient, and unfair.
We need to build a better future that is accompanied by a new narrative on trade, on investment, on debt, on technology, on a development that is truly sustainable, that fights inequalities and leaves no one behind. As argued by Secretary-General António Guterres, we need nothing less that a new “social contract” – a task for which we need to fully harness the collective wisdom and experience of civil society in development, to ensure that all voices are heard and resonate in the halls where intergovernmental deliberations are taking place.
Dear friends,
Civil Society is a strong partner of UNCTAD, key to the implementation of our mandate, and an active contributor to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During the next three days, you will be meeting and discussing important topics such as multilateralism, trade, technology, and systemic reform. I look forward to your deliberations on these important matters, and to your collective contribution to UNCTAD15 through this forum’s declaration.
Before I finish, I wish to thank the Caribbean Policy Development Centre, led by Mr. Richard Jones, the host civil society organization of this forum, for successfully preparing this important event. I also wish to thank the members of the International Civil Society Facilitation Committee for their contribution in designing a programme that is of great importance, relevance, and precision.
Lastly, my gratitude also goes out to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, for supporting this Conference, and for the excellent collaboration in the preparatory process towards the Civil Society Forum. Rest assured that under the wise Presidency of our host country Barbados and my personal commitment, your contribution will enrich the legacy of Bridgetown.
Dear delegates,
As I said at the beginning, this is only my second week as UNCTAD’s Secretary-General, but I can assure you that it is my strong intention to strengthen our relationship with civil society and to empower your contribution to our work. I hope we soon will have the time to meet again in person and to get to know each other better.
I therefore ask and call on you but also call on UNCTAD to work together on the many challenges the world faces, by building on our common expertise, our common goals and efforts, and by empowering our unique mandate to help.
Thank you.
