Eduardo González
The acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, assured yesterday before the United Nations that Spain will continue to contribute to the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda and committed, as established in the new Law on International Cooperation, to dedicate 0.7% of the Spanish Gross National Income to Official Development Assistance by 2030.
Sánchez spoke yesterday in New York at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, within the framework of the United Nations High-Level Week and the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. The SDG Summit was convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to provide high-level political guidance on actions to achieve these challenges by 2030. The outcome of these talks will be a negotiated political declaration. The meeting was divided into several dialogues and Pedro Sánchez intervened in dialogue number two, dedicated to building “resilient and strong societies” with the capacity to carry out “the necessary reforms for the transitions towards the SDGs”.
During his speech, the acting president assured that Spain intends to continue contributing to the various United Nations instruments to advance in the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda and make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality and reported, in this regard, that, by the new Law on International Cooperation, approved last February, Spain is committed to devoting 0.7% of its Gross National Income to Official Development Assistance by 2030. The Government had set itself the target of reaching 0.5% by the end of the current legislature, but the General State Budget foresees that in 2023 it will only reach 0.34%.
To achieve this, Sánchez announced new lines of financial contributions: an increase, up to 120 million euros, of Spain’s contribution to the Joint SDG Fund, of which our country is already the second largest donor; the reinforcement of food security through Spain’s support to the International Fund for Agricultural Development with 20 million euros; and the purpose of making Spain one of the top ten donors to the Special Purpose Trust Fund and to the regular budget of the agencies between 2024 and 2027.
Four years ago, during the September 2019 SDG Summit in New York, Pedro Sánchez announced (at the time he was also in office, following the failure of the investiture in July and the call for new elections in November) that Spain would contribute 100 million euros over five years to the Joint United Nations Fund for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Financial reform
Likewise, Pedro Sánchez stressed that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals within the deadlines set requires a significant mobilization of financial resources, which is why he expressed Spain’s support for António Guterres’ initiative to “promote an ambitious, serious and in-depth debate on the reform of the international financial architecture”.
In this regard, the head of the Executive assured that Spain wants to play “an active role in this debate” and expressed his desire for our country to host the IV Financing for Sustainable Development Summit to be held in 2025. “We want it to have a truly transformative impact,” he indicated. “The time to act is now,” he added.
Pedro Sánchez later held a bilateral meeting with António Guterres and was received by the NBC Editorial Board at its headquarters in Rockefeller Center, thus concluding his first day in New York. Today will begin with the start of the General Assembly, which will be addressed first by António Guterres, the President of Brazil (as is tradition), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in his capacity as host country. This will be followed by the speeches of the Heads of State or Government. Pedro Sánchez’s speech will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, concluding his participation in the High Level Week.
Sánchez will also hold bilateral meetings today with the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouni, and with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Shia al Sudani (six months after Spain assumed command of NATO operations in Iraq), and will participate in a round table on the reform of the international financial architecture, convened by the Government of Spain, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the French delegation, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. To end the day, Sánchez will attend the reception offered by the President of the host country, Joe Biden, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Sánchez’s participation in the High Level Week (including his announcements and commitments) comes just a few days before the debate and subsequent vote on the investiture of the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, following the general elections of July 23, will be held in the Congress of Deputies (September 26 and 27). In the event of not succeeding, which seems very likely, it will be Sánchez who will undergo his own investiture process. If his candidacy does not prosper either, the King would have to dissolve the Chambers at the end of November and call new elections, with the endorsement of the President of the Congress, Francina Armengol, for January 14, 2024.
