2023 SDG Summit

17 September 2023

13:30 – 15:00 (New York Time)

Conference Room (11), UN Headquarters, NYC

Motivation of the event

No doubt that localization is an important stimulus for the achievement of SDGs; however, its effect on FfD is a bit ambiguous. It is true that promoting holistic developmental programs to push forward the implementation of the SDGs in various localities despite their efficacy would need significant amount of resources as in the case of the Decent Life initiative (حياة كريمة) in Egypt initiated by HE the President. Nevertheless, it has the potential to be a game changer in the path toward Agenda 2030. On the other hand, other facets of localization such as having a transparent funding formula for local authorities, promoting localized targets for SDGs and galvanizing local financial resources have the potential of ameliorating the available fiscal space and enhancing the efficiency of public investment which is usually subject to significant loss due to inadequate governance practices.

Until now, these two imperative issues have been dealt with in isolation from one another. Still, much can be learned from examining the various channels between them. This side event delves into the interdependence between localization and finance for development in order to share valuable experience that could be instrumental in accelerating the path toward the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

Objective of the Side Event

The objective of the side event is to bring together relevant stakeholders namely experts in the field, government officials, international organizations and civil society groups and local actors to discuss and share their experience in order to answer a number of pivotal questions:

Does localization have a positive or negative externality to the finance for development challenge?
Should relevant stakeholders “endogenize” finance in localization initiatives?
Can localization attract financing for local authorities as well as the central government?
What are the roles that non-governmental entities can play to support localization initiatives without exacerbating the FfD challenge?
Would localization initiatives crowd in or out regional financial integration?
What are the implications for leaving no one behind for those sub-regions or locations that lack a competitive advantage?

Providing answers to these questions would have significant repercussions on the design of policies and policy advocacy both in the domain of localization and finance for development.

Speakers

H.E Dr. Hala El Said

Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Egypt

Mr. Abdallah Al Dardari

Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Mr. Mourad Wahba

Officer in Charge (OiC), UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

Mr. Rafael Tuts

Director, Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)

H.E Dr. Kodjo Mensah-Abrampa

Director General of the National Development Planning Commission, Ghana

Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi

Secretary General, United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa)

Mrs. Maimunah Mohd Sharif

Under-Secretary General and UN-Habitat Executive Director, (UN-Habitat)

H.E. YBRS. Encik Luqman Bin Ahmad

Deputy Secretary General (Macro), Ministry of Economy, Malaysia

Position	Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Egypt.
Short Bio	Dr. Hala H. Elsaid was sworn in as Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development on December 22, 2019. Prior to this appointment, her excellency served as the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform between February 2017 and December 2019. Dr. Elsaid who also serves as Chair of Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund is a prominent Economist and Academic Figure, recognized as the Best Arab Minister by the Arab Government Excellence Award in November 2020.
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Position	Officer in Charge (OiC), UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
Short Bio	Mourad Wahba first joined the United Nations in 1993 as a senior advisor in the Office of the Secretary-General. In 1997 he moved to UNDP where he served as a policy advisor in the Human Development Report Office and later in the Office of the Administrator. Mourad served as Deputy Resident Representative in Guyana, then from 2001 to 2006 as Director of UN Affairs in UNDP. In 2006, he was posted as Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative to Morocco, and returned to Headquarters in 2009 as Director for Security. In 2013 Mourad Wahba was Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States in UNDP. In 2015, Mourad Wahba was appointed Assistant Secretary-General and DSRSG/RC/HC in Haiti, in MINUSTAH. He returned to UNDP in 2017, as ASG and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States. He was appointed Associate Administrator, acting, in 2019 with the rank of USG, and retired in 2021. Upon retirement, Mourad Wahba was appointed by the Secretary-General as an independent expert on BINUH, and is currently a senior special advisor to the Administrator of UNDP. In this capacity, Mourad Wahba was asked to serve as Officer in Charge of UNCDF.
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Position	Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator, and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Short Bio	On 1st May 2023, Mr. Abdallah Al Dardari started in his current role as Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Arab States of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He has previously served as UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan, where he has been instrumental in launching ABADEI, an area-based programme that enhances bottom-up, inclusive community engagement to boost local economies and restore basic services. Prior to this Mr. Al Dardari has held senior posts at the World Bank covering the MENA region, and at ESCWA. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs in Syria and as Chairman of the State Planning Commission in Syria. He also served as Chief of the Trade Promotion section in the Arab Trade Financing Programme/Arab Monetary Fund group, and as a Programme Officer at the UNDP Syria country office. Mr. Al Dardari started his professional career in 1986 as an international affairs writer and bureau chief of the Pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat, and then became the Economist at the London Office of the League of Arab States.
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Position	Director, Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)
Short Bio	Raf Tuts is Director of the Global Solutions Division of UN-Habitat, based at its Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. He is overseeing the development of UN-Habitat’s normative guidelines through global initiatives, covering various dimensions of sustainable urbanization. He is also Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Deputy Executive Director. Since joining UN-Habitat in 1995, he held the following positions: Manager of the Localising Agenda 21 Programme, Chief of the Training and Capacity Building Branch, Manager of the Cities and Climate Change Initiative, Coordinator of the Urban Planning and Design Branch, and Director of the Programme Division. He coordinated UN-Habitat’s engagement in formulating the Sustainable Development Goals and led an agency-wide global effort to study city responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, he was awarded the title of Honorary Professor from his alma mater, the University of Leuven, Belgium.
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Position	Director General of the National Development Planning Commission, Ghana
Short Bio	Dr. Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa is a Development Economist and Planner by profession. He is a public-private-partnership expert and has undertaken advisory and consultancy assignments for key development organisations, including the World Bank, EU, DfID, GIZ, AfDB, and RIC. He has been a guest lecturer with University of Dortmund in Germany, (1996-1999) and supported scholarly activities in Yale University’s, School of Governance Conflict Programme; and MIT’s Urban and Regional Planning Programme.
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Position	Executive Director, UN-Habitat
Short Bio	Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif of Malaysia is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). She was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in 2017, at the level of Under-Secretary-General. She assumed her post in Nairobi, UN-Habitat headquarters, in 2018. In 2022, her term was extended upon the recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly. Since joining the United Nations, Ms. Sharif has reformed and re-positioned UN-Habitat as a thought leader in sustainable urbanization. She is a vocal advocate for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and the nationally determined contributions to the Climate Action Paris Agreement. She presided over the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Session of the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2018; Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in 2020; and Katowice, Poland in June 2022, respectively. Ms. Sharif is co-Chair of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on the Future of Cities and co-Chair of the Local 2030 Coalition, designed to support and accelerate local-led delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. She is an advocate for local voluntary reviews of the New Urban Agenda. From January to December 2019, Maimunah Mohd Sharif was the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Offices in Nairobi. In May 2019, she headed the first United Nations Habitat Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sharif was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. In 2011, she became the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai in Malaysia. She is also a member of the International Gender Champions, a leadership network launched in 2015 to promote gender equality. Ms. Sharif began her career as a town planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985. In November 2009, as its General Manager, Ms. Sharif established George Town World Heritage Incorporated and managed the George Town World Heritage Site, which was inscribed by UNESCO in July 2008. Born in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Ms. Sharif holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Town Planning Studies from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology in the UK and a Master of Science in Planning Studies from the Malaysia Science University. She has received several awards. She is married and has two daughters.
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Financing Localization or Localizing Finance?