INCHEON – Organized by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), the State of Palestine, represented by PICA, participated in 2019 Sustainable Development Transformation Forum (SDTF), held in Incheon, Republic of Korea from 22 to 24 October 2019.
The forum accommodated around 140 participants from governments, UN Agencies, think tanks, development banks, academic institutions, civil societies, and private sector from around the world.
PICA Director General, Imad Al-Zuhairi, who represented the State of Palestine, stated that the forum explored mechanisms of achieving fundamental transformations to promote 2030 agenda and its SDGs.
The forum also provided suggestions to move from incremental to transformational change in economic and social systems. SDTF also examined the importance of getting political leaders to take adequate policy decisions needed for effective and systemic change to face existing challenges.
One of the main outcomes of SDTF is launching Incheon declaration that includes 17 paragraphs centered on making a transformative change that contributes to more effective implementation of SDGs, and focused on how to make this transition by involving related segments and components of the international community.
The declaration also explored the importance of building alliances and strengthening existing ones to bring about required transformational change, as well as the importance of investing in education.
The forum included the launching of the first quadrennial Global Sustainable Development Report prepared by an independent group of Scientists appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General.
The Forum performed as a platform to learn about the programs and experiences of countries pertaining to implementing SDGs. It reiterated the importance of the political decision in the implementation of the 2030 agenda, through a combination of scaling finance, strengthening governance, shaping human behavior, and applying science and technology. Furthermore, it shed light on the role of partnerships, business and civil society to overcome difficulties and challenges, aiming at accomplishing the desired progress.