Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation Speech by Gunilla Carlsson at UN High-Level Meeting Check Against Delivery

2010 Speech 21 September 2010 Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation Speech by Gunilla Carlsson at UN high-level meeting Check against delivery Mr President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Related Press Release: Gunilla (Sweden aligns itself fully with the statement delivered by the European Union) Carlsson to New York for The Millennium Development Goals represent a common agenda to enhance and coordinate our efforts for UN high-level meeting poverty eradication and sustainable global development. The MDGs are about improving the lives of the world's poorest people; everyone's right to take an active part in shaping their own future and that of their families, communities and countries. They are about enabling people to move out of poverty and into lives of freedom and opportunities. Governments that pursue democratic development hand-in-hand with human rights stand a better chance of achieving the MDGs. The overall trend is positive. Infant and child mortality have dropped and more girls attend school. Evidence shows that the MDGs can be met if there is sufficient political will. However, despite progress we still face challenges. Millions of people suffer from hunger and lack access to safe drinking water. Climate change affects our living conditions. The poorest suffer the most. Africa is particularly hard-hit. Mr President, Sweden is deeply concerned that some MDGs are lagging behind. This is especially true of MDG5 on maternal health. It is unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of women die every year from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. The causes of maternal mortality are well known and, in most cases, preventable. We cannot ignore women's, men's and young people's right to sexual education and access to reproductive health services. We cannot close our eyes to the fact that 13 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by unsafe abortions. Maternal health must be addressed within a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights. There is a strong link to gender equality, which is the best way to ensure a woman's right to her own body. Sweden will continue to defend, protect and promote these rights. Investments in national health systems are critical. They lead to healthier mothers, children and families. Healthy mothers contribute to higher levels of education, economic growth and productivity, as healthy women can participate fully in social and economic life. Sweden welcomes the Secretary-General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health. We congratulate him on making MDGs 4 and 5 a priority for the whole UN system. The Strategy provides a vision and emphasises the need for reporting, oversight and transparency but needs more concrete targets to ensure compliance and accountability. What gets measured gets done, and what is done must be measured! This is closely linked to my Government's commitment to work for a more transparent and efficient aid system. Mr President, International resources are, and will continue to be, important to meet the MDGs. Even more important are domestic resources such as taxes in developing countries themselves. National systems should generate resources so that teachers and midwives, for example, can be paid decent salaries. We also need a joint commitment to work against corruption. Fraud is unacceptable. People should not have to bribe their way to access basic services. We have a shared responsibility to fulfil our commitments to achieve the MDGs by 2015. We need to deliver on our promises. This is true of developed and developing countries alike. The Swedish Government intends to do its part and will continue to engage with civil society and others. I call upon colleagues in the developed world to honour their ODA commitments. As well as I call upon colleagues in the developing countries to reinforce their ownership and leadership. There are five years to go! Let's do it! Speech 31 May 2010 Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation Speech by Gunilla Carlsson at the ABCDE - Conference 2010 Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Let me start by adding my voice to the chorus of welcomes. I can only agree with Finance Minister Anders Borg Related when he expresses how happy we are to be hosting the ABCDE 2010. For me, it is also a great opportunity to ABCDE Conference discuss the development challenges of today and tomorrow with some of the greatest minds - you. Stockholm As we continue to reform Swedish development cooperation, we depend on open, creative engagement with others: researchers, representatives from other branches of civil society, friends from international institutions, government colleagues, and the private sector. ABCDE Sweden offers a unique opportunity to do this, and a source of inspiration for policy-makers, practitioners in the field of development, researchers and students. It is obvious that policy-making and action in response to major global challenges should be based on the best available research. And yet international studies demonstrate that the links between research and policy are not as strong as they need to be. To effectively tackle the current global challenges, there is a great need for systematically researched knowledge to guide policy-making, political decisions and implementation. It should be underpinned by context-specific analyses. Domestic analytical capacity and country-specific and region-specific expertise through research are also key, if countries are to take part on an equal footing in international discussions on joint strategies to tackle shared global challenges. The amount and quality of the research produced that is of relevance to developing countries is often insufficient. This is due to a lack of research capacity in developing countries, but it is also linked to the inadequate international production of science-based knowledge concerning poverty-related development issues. Evidence-based policy approaches have a clear potential to impact strongly on outcomes in developing countries. Better use of evidence in policy-making and practice can help reduce poverty and improve economic performance. Finding innovative ways to make better use of research results in policy-making is therefore a necessity. My hope and expectation is that this ABCDE conference will deepen discussions on how to better stimulate communication and collaboration between researchers, evaluators, policy-makers and practitioners in all parts of the worlds and in different disciplines, to effectively tackle the major global challenges we face. Sweden is proud to co-host this event with the World Bank, one of our main partners in international development cooperation. What distinguishes the World Bank as an institution for me is its combined role as a knowledge bank and as a provider of development finance. One excellent illustration of this is the Bank's work in low-income countries through its International Development Association or IDA. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, better known as the World Bank, was established in 1944 to help Europe recover from the destruction of World War II. By the 1950s, it became evident that the poorest countries needed loans on softer terms than could be offered by the World Bank. IDA was established for this purpose on 24 September 1960 with 15 signatory countries - and I am proud to note that Sweden was one of them. Since then, IDA has become the leading source of concessional lending to 79 of the world's poorest countries. Since its inception, IDA credits and grants have totalled over USD 200 billion, averaging USD 14 billion a year in recent years. IDA is the largest multilateral recipient of Swedish official development assistance. This year, IDA celebrates 50 years of operations, and it has every reason to look back with pride on its achievements. To give just a few examples, between 2006 and 2009, thanks to IDA: 1 million additional primary school teachers were trained; more than 7 million people gained access to basic health, nutrition and population services; almost 8 million women received ante-natal care; 60 500 new piped household water connections were established. In the last five years, IDA has built, repaired or maintained 60 000 kilometres of rural roads, benefiting 60 million people in low-income countries. During its 50 years, one quarter of its borrowing countries have graduated completely from IDA. In 1991, China was IDA's biggest borrower. By 2007, China had not only graduated, but was a donor to IDA. Reflecting the increasingly multi-polar world economy, I expect to see more new donors following this example, and donors increasing their contributions. The current replenishment round is an opportunity for these emerging donors to play a bigger role. With our combined efforts, we can eradicate poverty more quickly. In fact, with all due respect, I sincerely hope that our successors won't be standing here in another 50 years' time celebrating 100 years of IDA. The very rationale of international development cooperation is, after all, to render itself obsolete. For this to happen, we need to make the necessary enhancements to IDA's Results Measurement System and make sure it is accompanied by a more robust results framework. We need to work hard together during this latest replenishment period to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. We must continue to target Africa, the continent that is lagging furthest behind on the MDGs. Together with other donors, Sweden has encouraged IDA to highlight three particular issues in the coming three years. Firstly, post-conflict and fragile states present the greatest development needs and the most challenging circumstances. These are the states in which it is hardest to obtain good results, but IDA has to make good use of our money here, too. Secondly, gender equality needs to be seriously addressed in order for IDA's poverty reduction efforts to be as effective as they possibly can be.

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