Daily Times

President of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram, said on Thursday the key to addressing the three challenges that the world faces – the coronavirus pandemic, the realization of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the existential threat of climate catastrophe – was to mobilize adequate financing to deal with each one of them. “This will be the first priority for ECOSOC during the Pakistan’s presidency,” he said in his closing remarks to the UN’s High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI), which was formed in March to help address the financing gap for implementing the SDGs by 2030. The high-level panel, which met virtually Thursday, was addressed among others by Prime Minister Imran Khan. “Such financing will have to be mobilized at both the national and international levels,” Ambassador Akram said, while pointing out that the ability of developing countries to mobilize domestic finance was constrained, and further diminished due to the grave impact of the COVID crisis.