ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) joined 11 multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday in launching a first-ever joint report on financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The report is released at the end of a critical year, in which the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic threatens to reverse progress on the SDGs. In response, MDBs have collectively mobilized a global response package of $230 billion between 2020 and 2021 to reduce the impact of the pandemic, of which $75 billion will be directed to the world’s poorest countries before the end of 2020.
“As Asia and the Pacific continues its development journey and recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to focus on the core targets of the SDGs,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
“Mobilizing domestic financial resources while ensuring debt sustainability is vital and will allow our partner governments to strengthen social safety nets and invest in high-quality green, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure to benefit the poorest.”
The joint report highlights collective and individual MDB efforts to support countries to achieve all 17 of the SDGs. It showcases examples of how their financing directly contributes to advancing SDGs that empower people, protect the planet, foster prosperity for all, and develop sustainable quality infrastructure. The report also emphasizes the critical importance of MDB partnerships to deliver financing, knowledge, and capacity building support for the SDGs.
The report concludes that MDBs must continue their efforts to invest in people and human capital, with a deeper focus on inclusion. They will step up their efforts to promote green development and ambitious climate action reflecting the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
They will also work to strengthen resilience to shocks and stresses, in order to preserve prosperity and continue to promote sustainable infrastructure, including to foster digitization to support innovation and sustainability.
MDBs will continue to deepen their partnerships for the goals, including through knowledge sharing and common reporting on the SDGs.
“The MDBs are committed to working alongside all partner countries to help them emerge from this unprecedented crisis better positioned to achieve the SDGs,” the report says.
ADB’s long-term Strategy 2030 commits that ADB’s operations will be designed to help developing member countries meet the SDGs, with the seven operational priorities set out in Strategy 2030 closely linked to SDG goals and targets. ADB’s corporate results management systems enable ADB to ensure its projects align with the goals and report on contributions to their achievement.
Many ADB projects are focused on supporting the achievement of the SDGs. For example, the ADB Ventures impact platform established in 2020 deploys venture capital investments and technical assistance to support early-stage technology businesses intended to have an impact on achieving the SDGs. ADB also partners with the UN and others to support knowledge and policy dialogue that enables developing member countries to implement the SDGs.
The 12 organizations partnering on the report are the African Development Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, International Finance Corporation, the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank Group, the New Development Bank, and the World Bank Group (World Bank, MIGA). – NNI