Fiji attends 11th session of APFSD
ASSISTANT Minister for Finance, Esrom Imamnuel, led Fiji’s delegation to the 11th session of the Asia Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD) taking place at the United Nations Conference Center (UNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand this week.
This regional forum supports the least developed, landlocked and small island states in the Asia-Pacific region towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their targets set out by the 2030 Agenda by identifying regional trends, sharing best practices and lessons learned.
The Forum brought together United Nations system bodies, member States, international organisations, civil society, and other stakeholders whose input informs the 2024 High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York, which reviews sustainable development progress at the global level.
The 11th APFSD convenes under the theme of “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: The effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions in Asia and the Pacific”.
The forum assesses progress on the SDGs under review: Goal 1 (No poverty); Goal 2 (Zero hunger); Goal 13 (Climate action); Goal 16 (Peace, justice, and strong institutions) and Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals). The Forum also supports the presentation of voluntary national reviews (VNRs) at the 2024 HLPF.
Fiji presented its second VNR last year and shared some lessons learnt from the experience to the Forum. This year a number of Pacific islands are expected to present their VNRs.
Asst Minister Imamnuel participated in plenary sessions, side events and touched on a number of initiatives that the Fiji Government’s was actively pursuing in the pursuit of the SDGs, which many states, including Fiji, are making slow progress against in the face of multiple global crisis.
He also highlighted that Fiji champions the notion of a Pacific Zone of Peace in line with the regional leaders’ vision for the Pacific.
Asst Minister Imamnuel also met with UN Under-Secretary General Guy Ryder and UN Under-Secretary General of UNESCAP Ibu Armida Alisjahbana, on the margins of the Forum in support of multilateralism to reaffirm the closeness of Fiji - UN relationship and our commitment to the international order based on the rule of law.
The UN-USGs touched on the Summit of the Future scheduled for September and the zero draft of the Pact for the Future currently under negotiation, the action-oriented pact is to be agreed at the Summit which insists on solidarity for present and future generations.
The Forum ends Friday and Assistant Minister Immanuel is being supported by Dr Neelesh Gounder, Chief Policy Advisor in the Ministry of Finance and Counsellor, Solo Momoivalu, of the Fiji Mission in Jakarta.