Remarks by Sofya Simonyan, Deputy Permanent Representative of Armenia, at the High-level meeting to discuss the gaps and challenges of middle-income countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda

04 դեկտեմբերի, 2018

Madam President,

Today’s discussion on the gaps and challenges of middle income countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda provides an important platform in helping formulate a better response to the needs and priorities of the MICs and ensure progress on sustainable development that will extend beyond income per capita criteria.

The conventional approach to development cooperation requires updating from a range of perspectives. The global finance landscape, along with the challenges and opportunities it entails, have become much more complex for the MICs, who are developed enough to nurture more complex institutions, yet, still need longer time and more focused efforts to do so without help.

The middle-income countries bear the fundamental capacity to contribute to poverty reduction, global stability and global growth, by being not merely consumers of development but also important providers of development. The MICs have enormous potential in contributing to the global development cooperation efforts, including, in terms of technology transfer and capacity building. The MICs deserve a special focus of the UN and its development system, in particular, within the context of its ongoing reform.

The UN and its development system have a key role to play in facilitating and accelerating opportunities and helping the middle-income countries leap forward, beyond the traditional mainstream development cooperation. In doing so, forging effective partnerships and networks is and should be an important driver of impact, as we embark on the next stage of development cooperation, with a new generation of United Nations country teams.

In Armenia we are gradually ripping the benefits of working with the UN and its development system, with the full use of the 2030 Agenda as a comprehensive policy framework. Together with the UN Country team, we have been setting up a national platform to support the SDG acceleration, promote public sector innovation and leverage private capital through impact investment and other forms of innovative financing mechanisms.

Our standing as a middle-income country and a landlocked developing country, given also the vulnerabilities of our mountainous terrain and the ecosystems, requires prioritization of climate change as well as disaster risk reduction strategies. We continue to work with our development partners in implementing programs for energy efficiency and climate smart technologies, towards a low-emission and climate-resilient pathway for sustainable development. Earlier this year, Armenia hosted the Sub-Regional Platform for Central Asia and Caucasus for Disaster Risk Reduction, which tackled, among other priorities, the issues related to the economy of disasters and effective public-private partnerships for risk sensitive investments. Armenia is well familiar with the risks and instabilities caused by the destructive potential of natural disasters. On these very days 30 years ago, a devastating earthquake struck the northern region of Armenia, claiming the lives of more than 25,000 people. Formulating coordinated response plans and investing in disaster resilient infrastructure and technologies is of critical importance for mitigating risks and requires immediate prioritization in international development cooperation, in particular, in case of the middle-income countries.

Madam President,

Allow me to conclude by reaffirming Armenia’s full support to a continued and informed dialogue on the needs and priorities of MICs, with a special focus on the means of unlocking the enormous potential of knowledge, technology and innovation. We are keen to encourage further discussions on partnerships with and in the middle-income countries, in support of socially and environmentally impactful projects and the sustainable development goals.

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