17 September 2018: The UN released a synopsis of the UN Secretary-General’s forthcoming Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2018-2021), in advance of the high-level meeting on the same theme. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene the meeting on 24 September 2018, on the margins of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) 73rd general debate.

The synopsis document outlines the Strategy’s background, objectives and way forward. According to the synopsis, the Strategy focuses on leveraging the convening power of the UN to bring together the relevant actors to accelerate mobilization of finance for the 2030 Agenda. The Strategy is built on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on financing for development (FFD), and on the Paris Agreement on climate change. It also draws on the work of the UN’s Inter-Agency Task Force on FFD, as well as ongoing work on financing within the UN and with its key partners.

The Secretary-General will provide a three-year roadmap of actions and initiatives covering the years 2018-2021.

The Strategy aims to accelerate progress in key areas where the leadership of the Secretary-General can galvanize action from the global to the local arena. Guterres sets out the key elements of the role that the UN can play in supporting the mobilization of finance for sustainable development, as well as actions that the UN will take to help accelerate and deepen the transformation of financial systems to provide development finance efficiently. The three key areas – or objectives – are:

• Aligning global economic policies and financial systems with the 2030 Agenda;
• Enhancing sustainable financing strategies and investments at the regional and country levels; and
• Exploiting the potential of financial innovations, new technologies and digitalization to provide equitable access to finance.

As for the way forward, the Secretary-General will provide a three-year roadmap of actions and initiatives covering the years 2018-2021, building on current and future activities of key stakeholders, to mobilize investments and support for funding the 2030 Agenda. The UN Deputy Secretary-General will lead its implementation.

The high-level meeting on 24 September 2018 will serve to: launch the Secretary-General’s Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda; take stock of and accelerate efforts by different stakeholders to operationalize the AAAA; and build momentum around key actions and initiatives by national governments, business and the international community that have high potential to accelerate implementation of the AAAA and the 2030 Agenda, and call on actors to report back on progress at the 2019 High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development. Following the meeting, a Secretary-General’s summary will highlight key action points, as a guide to follow-up discussions on sustainable financing at relevant fora over the next three years.

The webpage for the high-level meeting provides a roadmap of events related to SDG financing in 2017, 2018 and 2019, concluding with the UNGA’s high-level dialogue on FFD in September 2019. [Synopsis: The Secretary-General’s Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2018 – 2021)] [Website of high-level meeting] [Roadmap of related events]