AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Chair. The United States would like to thank the President of ECOSOC for her leadership on the 2018 Forum on Financing for Development. Many thanks also to the other expert panelists and delegations who helped make this a substantive discussion.
The United States would also like to thank the co-facilitators, the Permanent Representatives of Jamaica and Portugal. We addressed the content of that outcome in a separate explanation of position.
The United States’ commitment to international development is enshrined in President Trump’s National Security Strategy. Our commitment to financing development is clear in everything we do, as the largest donor and a significant private sector presence in developing countries.
The UN has an important role on development issues, but we must remember who truly drives development— they are the citizens of our countries, the innovators, the businesspeople.
Our government is dedicated to country-led, market driven development policy that unlocks private sector potential. We need to focus on country ownership so that developing countries progress toward self-reliance. As we agreed in Addis Ababa, and even before that, in Monterrey, we want to incentivize reform, strengthen in-country capacity, and mobilize domestic and private sector resources.
The United States is seeking to expand its capacity to catalyze private investment and make significant progress toward development outcomes through a revitalized development finance institution. At the same time, we remain the largest provider of Official Development Assistance, and we are focusing more of our ODA on catalyzing both domestic revenues and private investment in partner countries most in need as they progress on their journey toward self-reliance.
We also want to emphasize the importance of achieving gender equality and promoting women’s economic empowerment. We will never achieve development objectives if we continue to pursue them without our full societies engaged, both men and women. We will support efforts to advance women’s equality, protect the rights of women and girls, and promote women and youth empowerment programs.
While we have made remarkable progress toward alleviating poverty and fostering development over the past several years, we still have a long way to go. We look forward to working with you and the other delegations, the private sector and civil society, collaboratively, to implement financing for development. Thank you.
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