7 May 2018: UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Miroslav Lajcak has appointed two co-facilitators for a high-level meeting to discuss the gaps and challenges of middle-income countries (MICs) in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UNGA requested the meeting in a 2017 resolution on ‘Development cooperation with middle-income countries.’
In Resolution 72/230, the UNGA acknowledges the efforts and successes of many MICs in eradicating poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), their contribution to global and regional development and economic stability, and the importance of identifying structural gaps to improve the understanding of development needs of developing countries, including MICs. It also underlines the need for sustained efforts to achieve debt sustainability within MICs, and recognizes that 73% of the world’s poor population is concentrated in MICs, making cooperation with MICs critical in achieving the SDGs and other development goals. Within this context, the UNGA invites the President to convene a high-level meeting to discuss the gaps and challenges of MICs in implementing the 2030 Agenda, and requests the UN Secretary-General to consider these discussions in drafting his report on implementation of Resolution 72/230.
Lajcak appointed Mirgul Moldoisaeva, Permanent Representative of Kyrgyzstan, and Tore Hattrem, Permanent Representative of Norway, to co-facilitate an open and transparent consultative process with Member States in preparation for the high-level meeting. The high-level meeting is mandated to convene at the beginning of the 73rd session of the UNGA, and no later than December 2018.
By the same resolution, the UNGA requests the UN development system to ensure that it addresses MICs’ diverse development needs in a coordinated manner, including through assessment these countries’ national priorities and needs, and taking into account variables beyond per capita income criteria. It calls upon the UN development system to continue to support MICs in their efforts to achieve development goals, and to address special challenges facing the most vulnerable countries and specific challenges of MICs.
Within this context, the UNGA requests the UN Secretary-General to present an assessment of the outcomes of existing strategies within the UN development system related to MICs, in his report on the implementation of Resolution 72/230. [UNGA President’s letter] [A/RES/72/230]