Statement of the UN Resident Coordinator Antje Grawe at the Briefing of the Diplomatic Corps and Development Partners on the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework

It is a great pleasure to welcome you here today, on behalf of the UN system in Kyrgyzstan, at this second briefing of our international partners since we started the implementation of our five-year United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) in 2023.

Your presence here today is a testament to both the strong partnership between the UN system and development partners and our shared commitment to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kyrgyzstan. I wish to start by extending our deep gratitude to every one of you for your unwavering support in implementing crucial projects and programs that help shape Kyrgyzstan’s path toward sustainable development and ultimately improve the lives of Kyrgyz citizens.

Today, the UN family, composed of 27 UN Agencies, Funds and Programs, will provide an update on our collective results achieved together in 2023 and zoom into the strategic priorities for 2024 within the four priority areas of the UNSDCF 2023 – 2027, which you see on the slide in front of us. Both the results and, importantly, the plans for 2024 were endorsed by the UN-Government Joint Strategic Committee on 20 March, co-chaired by the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and myself, with all relevant members of the Cabinet and the UN family participating, as part of an annual review of the agreed strategic focus which we carry out together with our Government partners and other stakeholders including civil society, the private sector and development partners, to ensure full alignment of the UN’s work with the country’s development priorities and needs.

While my colleagues from the UN County Team will shortly elaborate on both the progress achieved in 2023 and the planned priorities under each of the four priority areas of the Cooperation Framework, allow me to recall the key principles driving our cooperation and share reflections on the focus of this cooperation as we strive to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the lead-up to 2030.

As you know, the UNSDC is the key strategic document for the planning and implementation of the UN development system's program in the Kyrgyz Republic. It is driven by the spirit of partnership and anchored in Kyrgyzstan’s national development priorities. As such, it is fully aligned with the country’s national development policies and plans and supports the achievement of the SDGs and its localized targets, guided by Kyrgyzstan’s international commitments, including human rights, gender and environmental commitments, and the principle of “leaving no one behind”. At the same time, it is the centerpiece of the UN Development System Reform, aimed at enhancing coordination and cooperation among the UN system to better leverage the vast experience and knowledge of the system, in support of Kyrgyzstan’s development demands.

In the past year, we have seen significant achievements through the coordinated implementation of 160 projects and programs delivered thanks to financial contributions of 66 million USD across the four priority areas of which 57 million USD have been disbursed thus far. In the spirit of the above-mentioned UN development system reforms, the UN Country Team adjusted its modus operandi by increasing the number of joint programs (to 18) and by increasingly tapping into pooled funds.

On the slide you can see the breakdown by donors of the delivered funds, half of which came from our esteemed bilateral Government partners, while the remainder was mobilized through global and other UN programs such as the SDG Fund, the Peacebuilding Fund, Green Climate Fund, or the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to which many of you generously contribute through global allocations by your governments. A huge thank you to all our donors once again. Additional UN core funding demonstrated the strong commitment of the UN family to implement the Cooperation Framework.

As we will hear shortly, and as you can also see from the Annual Results Report 2023 that is part of your package in front of you, these efforts have contributed hugely to advancing progress toward the SDGs and addressing key development challenges faced by the people of Kyrgyzstan, including the most vulnerable.

It is now crucial that we sustain this momentum and continue to work in the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation as we aim to accompany Kyrgyzstan on her path toward SDG achievement. Thus, I am confident that we will see the same level of commitment to further advance progress as we continue the implementation of the Cooperation Framework in its second year. So far, of the required total amount of 75 million USD to meet our agreements with the Government, 51 million USD have been made available through a combination of bilateral and multilateral contributions.

As we look to further deepen our cooperation with you all, we also strive to identify new partnerships and innovative financing tools including pooled funding such as a new Conservation Trust Fund currently under development to support the Government in the implementation of the Mountain Agenda and to meet its climate ambition and environmental protection goals. I am also happy that we successfully “competed” with other UN country teams globally for funding from the SDG Fund, one of the Secretary-General’s core instruments to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, in the spirit of UN development system reforms. Kyrgyzstan will benefit from two additional allocations under the SDG Fund starting in 2024, namely a digital health program and a program supporting Bishkek city in localizing the SDGs.

Dear Participants,

The success of the achievement of the SDGs hinges not only on the strong partnership with the government and with you, our development partners, but requires a whole-of-society approach, multi-stakeholder partnerships and meaningful involvement in the planning and execution of development programs of the people we aim to serve. The same applies to the implementation of the UNSDCF. We will therefore continue to work closely with and through a multitude of partners including the private sector, civil society, women, human rights and youth groups, academia, and media, to mention just a few.

This is even more important as we look towards the future. With less than seven years until 2030, there is a pressing need to accelerate our collaborative efforts to meet SDG targets globally and in Kyrgyzstan where the Government has expressed its strong commitment to SDG acceleration at the highest levels. This was best evidenced by President Jarparov’s participation in the SDG Summit in September 2023 in New York where he made ambitious commitments to alleviate poverty and combat inequalities through focused investments in equitable education, green economy and climate action, areas integral to our Cooperation Framework.

The upcoming ‘Summit of the Future’ later this year, which the Secretary-General is convening in the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting to spur international cooperation amidst increasing polarizations and global crisis, will present another opportunity for UN Member States to come together and explore solutions to drive SDG acceleration, among other. The Summit’s outcome document, currently under negotiations led by the penholders Germany and Namibia, will be a unique opportunity to pave the ground in this regard and prepare the world to be better equipped to address global challenges jointly, on multilateral platforms - and for us all here in Kyrgyzstan to support the country on its planned trajectory to move from the current 45th to the 30th rank in the SDG global index by 2030.

Speaking of global UN conferences, allow me to briefly also single out the UN Climate Conference, COP 29, hosted by Azerbaijan in November in Baku, which will be another landmark event to mobilize the world’s efforts aimed at tackling the pressing global crisis. The UN family here in Kyrgyzstan supports the Government in implementing its commitments under the Paris Agreement and those made at previous COP conferences in many ways which you will hear about shortly. In this context, we also support Kyrgyzstan in its objective to link its Mountain Agenda and the underpinning Five Years of Action that was endorsed by a UN General Assembly Resolution in December 2022 with its climate ambition, most notably the launch of a permanent dialogue on mountains and climate change within the COP framework, which I invite all present Member States to support. The first step in this regard is an Expert Dialogue on Mountains and Climate Change which will

take place under the auspices of UNFCCC / 60th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on 5 June in Bonn.

In closing, I wish to extend my huge gratitude to all partners and reaffirm our commitment to building a better future for all citizens of this country. Together, we will strive to achieve the expected results of the Cooperation Framework and Joint Work Plans, as the UN’s key contributions to Kyrgyzstan’s sustainable development.

I will now pass the floor to my colleagues who will, on behalf of the UN system, present the key achievements in 2023 and priorities for 2024, followed by a discussion.

Thank you for your attention!