Irina Bokova｜Digital Era and Post-COVID Era: Philanthropy is Essential to Achieving the SDGs
Date：2021-09-27
Source: China-Europe-America Wechat Official Account
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Former Former Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova's Speech
Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me first and foremost to congratulate the organizers of this conference and the launch of the China-Europe-America Philanthropy Cooperation Initiative. Let me, from the very beginning, share the starting point of this initiative, namely that philanthropy is essential to solving many of the world's most critical problems. As a former Director-General of UNESCO, I'm equally happy that this meeting is organized on 8 September, the International Literacy Day, and allow me to emphasize also the leadership of China in celebrating this day by establishing already in 2005 the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy.
International Literacy Day 2021 is celebrated under the topic: Literacy for a human-centered recovery: Narrowing the digital divide. The COVID-19 crisis reveals the unpreparedness of education systems, infrastructure, educators and learners for distance learning and the fragility of adult literacy programs. It hit hardest those who were already marginalized, including 773 million non-literate adults and young people, two thirds of whom are women, and the 617 million children in adolescence, who were failing to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills even before the crisis. Confucius famously said, "Education breeds confidence, confidence breeds hope, hope breeds peace." These words resonate deeply with my belief that the role of education, in contemporary world, in a fragile world, and the challenges we confront, is critical.
If I mention this, it is because I deeply believe that philanthropy, and I would enlarge it, borrowing from the United Nations language and approach, partnerships are increasingly important in our efforts to achieve the SDGs, from eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities and providing quality access to healthcare and education, including climate change and tackling the need to protect the planet and the biodiversity.
The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is built on the fundamental shift in approach to development, as it seeks to engage the unique roles and resources of all sectors of society and requiring extensive collaboration. So, partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals are multi-stakeholder approach, taken by governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and the civil society. And this is exactly what the SDG Goal 17 reads: "Strengthening the means of implementation and revitalize global partnership for sustainable development". I see this as an important vehicle, for mobilizing and sharing knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources to support the achievement of the SDGs, and also to encourage and promote effective public, private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies that already exist, but bringing also innovation, which is critical in these challenging times of recovery after the COVID-19 crisis.
We should look today at the Goal 17 with a particular emphasis on technology. The digital revolution was already changing how we communicated, how we created and shared knowledge, and it had already impacted jobs and skills and health and many of the other ambitions. COVID-19 has accelerated the digital at speed we never imagine. Today, it is more than ever true that technology can bring solutions that are transformative, inclusive and also sustainable in order to respond to the crisis.
At the same time, it has exposed the digital divide like never before. The facts are staggering: 3.7 billion people are still not connected to Internet, fewer than one in five people in the least developed countries are connected. Divides in access are exacerbated by divides in literacy, skills and services, made worse by gender divides, holding back girls and women. We must do everything to ensure technological breakthroughs are development breakthroughs. This is where partnerships and philanthropy can make a difference.
Governments will need indeed assistance from philanthropic organizations and the private sector, in order for the SDGs to succeed. Philanthropy can provide more than just financing for these goals but to make long-term commitments towards complex issues, as I mentioned, such as inequalities, climate change, protection of biodiversity. With a 3-billion-per-year price tag, philanthropy cannot fund the goals to completion alone. Instead, it must leverage non-financial resources as well. It can bring important technical expertise, strong granted relationships and links between government, civil society and the private sector.
This, I believe, is the role that philanthropy is uniquely positioned to play and one that is vital for the success of the SDGs. But to harness its full potential, we need better data sharing, coordination, and policy dialogue. International organizations are calling for better understanding and greater transparency on how philanthropic sector can best contribute to the global development agenda. I'm confident that this conference, as well as the future report, will be exactly this response needed, and will bring closer the government, civil society and the private sector so that no one is left behind, as is the underlying ambition of the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030.
I thank you for your attention and I wish a lot of success to your conference.
