UN Secretary General discusses post-2015 MDGs

Apr 16, 2014 News

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday visited the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to promote closer collaboration for sustainable and inclusive development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

During his visit the Secretary General met with members of the IDB’s Board of Executive Directors and senior management. Among the key topics broached was the post-2015 sustainable development framework that will build on the current UN Millennium Development Goals. They also discussed joint efforts related to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“Under Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon’s leadership, the UN has played a crucial role in getting a diverse array of actors to agree on and work towards achieving common goals for development. We look forward to strengthening our cooperation,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.
During his remarks to the IDB’s Board, the Secretary General noted the history of collaboration between the IDB and the UN agencies and thanked President Moreno for his commitment to furthering joint efforts across numerous sectors. “We’ve been working together on global development, the millennium development goals, sustainable development, and climate change,” Sec. Gen. Ban said.
The Secretary General also cited the importance of the IDB and other regional development banks in advancing the global discussion on development targets for the post-2015 era.
“We have less than 640 days left, and we must accelerate the process and use all the resources available [to agree] on practical priorities,” Sec. Gen. Ban said.
Sustainability will be a central objective of the new targets, according to the UN Secretary General.
The IDB has had over the years, a strong collaboration with UN agencies, covering a wide range of development topics ranging from agriculture to basic services, citizen security, connectivity, disaster prevention, education and food security.
Other fields of IDB-UN cooperation include gender equality, health, housing, job training, regional integration, renewable energy, road safety, tourism, trade, transportation, urban planning, water and sanitation, women entrepreneurship, and youth leadership.