Opening Remarks by Tapan Mishra, UN Resident Coordinator in Mongolia at the Launch of the Multi-stakeholder Council for Sustainable Development

As delivered

Your Excellency, Mr. Zandanshatar, Speaker of the Parliament of Mongolia

Distinguished Members of the Parliament, Partners, and Colleagues,

It is a great honour for me to open and welcome you all to this special event to officially launch the Multi-stakeholder Council for Sustainable Development (MCSD). As you remember, the establishment of the MCSD was announced by the Parliament of Mongolia at the first High-Level National Forum on Sustainable Development Goals on 4 October 2021. I would like to extend special thanks to Ms. Bulgantuya, the Member of the Parliament, and Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, for taking this initiative forward and organizing the MCSD launch event. 

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges the “essential role of national parliaments through their enactment of legislation and adoption of budgets, and their role in ensuring accountability for the effective implementation of our commitments.” Members of parliament are uniquely positioned to act as an interface between the people and state institutions and to promote and adopt people-centred policies and legislation to ensure that no one is left behind.

I would like to emphasize the role of parliaments in ensuring development effectiveness, namely, that the financing for the SDGs is made available and utilized most effectively. As a key accountability institution, parliaments should promote the most effective use of all the country's resources – both the national resources provided by taxpayers and the Official Development Assistance (ODA), foreign loans and foreign direct investments – in addressing sustainable development challenges. This is particularly relevant to Mongolia given that the country is in the process of finalization of its Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) strategy that will support financing the nationalized SDGs integrated into the socio-economic development General Guidelines for the period of 2021-2025.

While a country’s commitment to the SDGs is made by the executive, i.e., the Government of Mongolia, who is also officially responsible through its National Committee for Sustainable Development for all reporting related to progress and implementing laws and budgets, I look forward to the Parliament’s active engagement and collaboration with the executive, in ensuring effective oversight and count on its support in promoting the adoption of the INFF strategy, as well as the national SDG targets and indicators proposed by the National Committee one year ago.

The Multistakeholder Council for Sustainable Development that will be launched today, implies a new set of partnerships involving parliamentarians, the private sector, civil society, academia, international financial institutions, and other development partners. It will serve as an effective platform for coordination and collaboration between different stakeholders who contribute towards the SDGs achievement and help the Parliament of Mongolia to strengthen development effectiveness in the country and oversee our promise to put Mongolia on a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive path.

The United Nations in Mongolia stands ready to provide all necessary support to the Parliament of Mongolia in integrating the SDGs into its daily work, including through capacity building of parliamentarians and staff, and institutionalizing best parliamentary rules, practice and procedures that will entrench engagement with SDGs at regional, national, and subnational levels.

I would like to conclude my opening remarks by saying the following. As a parliamentarian, head of the CSO, private company or development agency, we may or may not still hold our offices in 2030 when there will be an assessment of whether or not Mongolia has achieved the Sustainable Development Goals. However, today each of us, being the MCSD member, can think about our individual role, and that of our entire institutions, in putting Mongolia back on track towards sustainable development.

Thank you.