Distinguished President of the General Assembly,
Distinguished President of ECOSOC,
Distinguished Chair of Like-minded Group of the Middle-Income Countries,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour to participate in this High-Level Meeting on Middle-Income Countries.
I thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this important event.
Middle-income countries comprising over 100 Member States, are home to around 75 percent of the global population.
The SDGs cannot be achieved without properly addressing the development needs and challenges of this group of countries.
At the same time, the MICs themselves have a critical role to play in advancing sustainable development in the rest of the world.
Middle-income countries have been playing a transformative role in addressing challenges such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Yet, their environmental vulnerabilities are still often overlooked.
We must recognize that these vulnerabilities influence progress towards other key objectives such as poverty eradication.
The current convergence of global shocks has exposed and amplified these interconnections in many MICs, as documented in the special edition of the Secretary-General’s report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
And the "great finance divide" has severely limited the ability of these countries to invest in their own recovery, build resilience, and achieve sustainable development.
Excellencies,
As our world becomes more interconnected, more complex, and more uncertain, we have an ever-greater responsibility to strengthen collective action with and for MICs.
It is crucial that MICs can access the necessary resources and support to deal with their environmental challenges while also meeting urgent imperatives such as eradicating poverty, reducing inequality and addressing climate change.
The Secretary-General has emphasized that “we must broaden the eligibility criteria for concessional finance so that it is available to vulnerable middle-income countries in need, as well as the least developed economies.”
At the same time, developed countries must follow through on their promise to provide $100 billion in climate financing per year to developing countries.
Excellencies,
Our message today is clear: we can only steer structural transformation, fight climate change, and accelerate progress towards the SDGs if middle-income countries are in focus.
The Secretary-General's SDG Stimulus Plan is an important step in this direction.
Discussions in different fora, both within the UN and outside, will need to turn these proposals into action. As the SDG Summit is approaching, we must be united in this endeavour.
I wish you a fruitful discussion today and look forward to the outcomes.
Thank you.