As Prepared for Delivery

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

We gather here today united by a common vision – a world where sustainable development is not a privilege, but a reality for all.

Public finance is insufficient to deal with the severity of constrained global fiscal spaces, with economic, social, climate, and environmental crises that affect current and future generations.

The SDG financing gap continues to widen, threatening to leave behind those below the poverty line, further marginalising last-mile contexts that most need our support: Least Developed Countries, Small Island nations and many other fragile settings.

Addressing today’s challenges, those that will jeopardize opportunities for future generations, requires more than public financing.

The Pact of the Future recognizes the urgency to “catalyze increased private sector investment”.

This is at the core of UNCDF’s original GA mandate of 1966: to assist developing countries in the development of their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance adopted here in this august chamber.

In fact, this call for action by Member States for UNCDF to help those furthest behind, is even more relevant today.

UNCDF is the only UN Fund capable of deploying inclusive blended finance solutions at the pace and scale needed to crowd-in private streams of finance at the last mile.

We are responding to this call by enhancing our unique capabilities to amplify the impact of the UN system and the wider development community.

As a non-credit rated hybrid development and finance institution, UNCDF is designed to absorb and reduce the high risks that make access to sustainable capital simply unattainable.

Our grants, guarantees and fit-for-purpose financial instruments enable UNCDF to “on-ramp” and catalyze investments that otherwise would be unbankable.

UNCDF’s impact is felt in fragile developing countries around the world today, but it needs to be scaled up.

Every dollar that we invest in local currency not only supports today’s needs – it paves the way for long-term prosperity that builds on public private partnerships.

If UNCDF did not exist today, it would be created as a disruptor to foster a more inclusive development finance system.

This is the role that UNCDF can play within the UN 2.0.

We are a UN Fund and a platform for partners to crowd-in public and private financing. Together we can build a future so that no one is left behind.

Thank you.