Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, delivered the keynote address at the opening session of the conference titled “First Biennial Summit for a Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Global Economy: Implementing Commitments on Financing the Sustainable Development Goals” held at the UN Headquarters.
He said that meeting the annual investment gap of US$ 4 trillion is very difficult but essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The commitments made at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development must now be turned into reality.
Professor Yunus said that Bangladesh’s experience proves that poverty cannot be an obstacle to anyone’s dreams. Financial inclusion, access to resources, women’s entrepreneurship development, solar and IT opportunities for youth, and education programs including nutrition and sanitation for disadvantaged children—these initiatives bring about real and lasting change.
He referred to the “Civil Commitment” as a new framework for mobilizing domestic resources, preventing illicit financial flows, strengthening development banks, and ensuring the accountability of international institutions.
Professor Yunus proposed five priority actions to strengthen SDG financing:
- Raising domestic resources fairly and increasing international aid; ensuring progressive taxation and holding multinational companies to fair taxation.
- Creating inclusion and employment through innovative finance and social business.
- Reforming global financial institutions and debt management to strengthen the voice of developing countries and transform debt into a tool for resilience and development, not a tool for austerity.
- Ensuring transparency, preventing illicit financial flows, and increasing the accountability of institutions through citizen and youth engagement.
- Accelerate investments in housing, climate-resilient agriculture, health, education and nature-based solutions for the most vulnerable populations.
Professor Yunus said, “The Civil Commitment has given us a roadmap; the call of humanity is compelling us to move forward on that path. Let us build an economy of dignity, shared prosperity and resilience, leaving no one behind.”
