gypt International Cooperation Forum (Egypt—ICF), organized by Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation, and co-organized by leading international development institutions, including the United Nations, the World Bank Group, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was held in Cairo, Egypt, in a hybrid format—allowing both physical and virtual attendance. It convened global policymakers to address post-pandemic sustainable recovery strategies in a two-day event hosting ministers from around the world, and heads of sustainable and economic development organizations. Egypt—ICF showcased a blueprint for reinvigorating multilateralism for sustainable development, with a unique hybrid model that focuses on action rather than discussion.
Among an impressive list of dignitaries was Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, HE Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, Amina J. Mohammed, the Commissioner for International Partnerships of the European Commission, Jutta Urpilainen, and the Deputy Secretary-General at OECD, Jeffrey Schlagenhauf. Egypt-ICF convened an international community of governments, private sector, and civil society leaders to discuss how the commonalities between stakeholders can help achieve the sustainable development goals. The 17 SDGs are a common denominator across countries, and through a multisectoral approach and community of practice, Egypt—ICF creates programmes that address issues at the local community level.
“It would not have been possible for all of these stakeholders to gather today, whether physically or virtually, if they did not have the genuine conviction that the world, despite all the differences, is one coherent sphere that shares the same goal, that is, overcoming the pandemic and moving towards green development and recovery,” said Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation. “While there is less than a decade left for the 2030 UN SDGs, it is necessary to evaluate what has been achieved so far to recover from the challenges of the pandemic and to build back better,” she added.
Egypt—ICF showcased this conviction for building back better by featuring a unique and powerful hands-on approach to initiatives that showcases successful country cases that could be replicated and scaled in other countries. Each workshop focused on a key dimension of sustainable development including women in business, food security, mapping ODA to SDGs, the demographic divided, triangular cooperation, and investments in human capital. The result was a engaged and catalytic experience, where each stakeholder could take home ready to deploy blueprints and action plans.
One of the key challenges Egypt—ICF focused on was the financing gap for achieving the SDGs. OECD has shown this gap to be around $3.7 trillion, and due to the pandemic of 2020, many of these funds have moved to solving the unique challenges that Covid created for each nation. With this in mind, Egypt—ICF focused many of their discussions on innovative tools for blended finance, showing how the private sector can be more engaged in trying to achieve the SDGs. Another very pressing issue for the Forum was the climate and trying to move to net zero in developing countries and emerging markets.
The future of the multilateral systems and whether they should be reinvigorated and reassessed has been a key challenge in this age of the fourth industrial revolution. Through Egypt—ICF’s hybrid model, however, it showcased clearly that there are practical and powerful ways to reinvent multilateralism, coordination, and dialogue.
The challenges of the 17 SDGs will not be solved by governments, the private sector, or civil society alone. The multilateral systems are still severely under-resourced to manage the implementation of these goals. However, the multilateral approach implemented by Egypt—ICF can be used as a stepping stone to support a new form of bottom up multilateralism. By encouraging global and local institutions to create industry and sectoral forums as a critical way of addressing cross-cutting issues and multisectoral engagement, the multilateral system can move towards a more inclusive, distributed, and effective way of governing.
The 17 SDGs are a powerful agenda and multilateralism is the best method for tackling them. The International Cooperation Forum is proof, and shows that we are not yet living in a post-multilateralism society.
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Reinvigorating Multilateralism for Sustainable Development
Cairo, Egypt. Photo by Jack Krier via Unsplash.
September 27, 2021
E
gypt International Cooperation Forum (Egypt—ICF), organized by Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation, and co-organized by leading international development institutions, including the United Nations, the World Bank Group, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was held in Cairo, Egypt, in a hybrid format—allowing both physical and virtual attendance. It convened global policymakers to address post-pandemic sustainable recovery strategies in a two-day event hosting ministers from around the world, and heads of sustainable and economic development organizations. Egypt—ICF showcased a blueprint for reinvigorating multilateralism for sustainable development, with a unique hybrid model that focuses on action rather than discussion.
Among an impressive list of dignitaries was Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, HE Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN and Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, Amina J. Mohammed, the Commissioner for International Partnerships of the European Commission, Jutta Urpilainen, and the Deputy Secretary-General at OECD, Jeffrey Schlagenhauf. Egypt-ICF convened an international community of governments, private sector, and civil society leaders to discuss how the commonalities between stakeholders can help achieve the sustainable development goals. The 17 SDGs are a common denominator across countries, and through a multisectoral approach and community of practice, Egypt—ICF creates programmes that address issues at the local community level.
“It would not have been possible for all of these stakeholders to gather today, whether physically or virtually, if they did not have the genuine conviction that the world, despite all the differences, is one coherent sphere that shares the same goal, that is, overcoming the pandemic and moving towards green development and recovery,” said Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation. “While there is less than a decade left for the 2030 UN SDGs, it is necessary to evaluate what has been achieved so far to recover from the challenges of the pandemic and to build back better,” she added.
Egypt—ICF showcased this conviction for building back better by featuring a unique and powerful hands-on approach to initiatives that showcases successful country cases that could be replicated and scaled in other countries. Each workshop focused on a key dimension of sustainable development including women in business, food security, mapping ODA to SDGs, the demographic divided, triangular cooperation, and investments in human capital. The result was a engaged and catalytic experience, where each stakeholder could take home ready to deploy blueprints and action plans.
One of the key challenges Egypt—ICF focused on was the financing gap for achieving the SDGs. OECD has shown this gap to be around $3.7 trillion, and due to the pandemic of 2020, many of these funds have moved to solving the unique challenges that Covid created for each nation. With this in mind, Egypt—ICF focused many of their discussions on innovative tools for blended finance, showing how the private sector can be more engaged in trying to achieve the SDGs. Another very pressing issue for the Forum was the climate and trying to move to net zero in developing countries and emerging markets.
The future of the multilateral systems and whether they should be reinvigorated and reassessed has been a key challenge in this age of the fourth industrial revolution. Through Egypt—ICF’s hybrid model, however, it showcased clearly that there are practical and powerful ways to reinvent multilateralism, coordination, and dialogue.
The challenges of the 17 SDGs will not be solved by governments, the private sector, or civil society alone. The multilateral systems are still severely under-resourced to manage the implementation of these goals. However, the multilateral approach implemented by Egypt—ICF can be used as a stepping stone to support a new form of bottom up multilateralism. By encouraging global and local institutions to create industry and sectoral forums as a critical way of addressing cross-cutting issues and multisectoral engagement, the multilateral system can move towards a more inclusive, distributed, and effective way of governing.
The 17 SDGs are a powerful agenda and multilateralism is the best method for tackling them. The International Cooperation Forum is proof, and shows that we are not yet living in a post-multilateralism society.
