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Experience Sharing meeting on Regional-United Nations Development Group (R-UNDG) for Eastern and Southern Africa and Western and Central Africa |30 July 2015

Seychelles’ approach to national progress hailed

 

 

Although a small Island developing state with limited resources, Seychelles has shown good governance, dynamism, innovation, determination, resilience and social cohesion as means of achieving long-lasting development gains.

The remark was made by Simon Springett, UN resident coordinator and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) resident representative to Seychelles while speaking at the opening of a high-level meeting the country is hosting for selected middle income countries (MICs) across the African continent and elsewhere.

The “Experience Sharing meeting on Regional-United Nations Development Group (R-UNDG) for Eastern and Southern Africa and Western and Central Africa” is being held at the Eden Bleu Hotel on Eden Island and was officially launched on Tuesday evening by Vice-President Danny Faure.

Countries taking part in this three-day meeting are Mauritius, Seychelles, Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Bhutan, Egypt, Panama and Vietnam.

It is a result of the R-UNDG developing a draft strategy of support for MICs, aimed at better positioning the UN system in the MICs to provide effective support to countries in line with specific country contexts.

Delegates are to deliberate on a draft strategy and get inputs from governments in MICs, private sectors, civil society and other development partners for its finalisation.

Also present at the official launch ceremony were ministers and other high government dignitaries.

After welcoming the delegates to Seychelles, Vice-President Faure expressed heartfelt thanks on behalf of MICs for the invaluable work different agencies are doing to assist Seychelles in its development and progress.

In his opening address, Vice-President Faure said with organisations like the United Nations behind MICs, those countries have made significant progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), some more than others, based on more favourable conditions.

But he also acknowledged those who have sadly moved backwards due to adverse effects like conflicts, epidemics and economic setbacks as well as political instability.

He also mentioned the last meeting of the United Nations on Monday where the organisation endorsed the new global action agenda for financing sustainable development adopted two weeks ago at the third Financing for Development Conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

At that conference the UN has acknowledged that a one size fits all approach is no longer the order of the day and has recognised the need for a more tailored approach to the activities of UN agencies in tackling specific challenges faced by the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small islands developing states (Sids) and low and middle income countries as well as the special needs of Africa.

Referring to the recent graduation of Seychelles from middle income to high income country status, according to criteria established by the World Bank, Vice-President Faure said this categorisation recognises the great transformation that Seychelles has implemented in its economy since the global crisis of 2008, and highlights our progress as a nation.

“Seychelles still faces the challenges of the particularities of being a small island developing state, as well as being an African country. Therefore we welcome this UN meeting which will look at adopting strategies to provide effective support to countries, in line with specific country contexts,” he said.

While addressing the issue of financing for development, Mr Faure said Seychelles need to ensure that we are using the most objective and scientific tools to measure development. This is why the country continues to lead the call for the adoption of a Vulnerability Index that can better help it identify development challenges in a systematic way.

Mr Faure also announced that Seychelles is also exploring options to launch a world’s first ‘blue bond’, a structure that can be a key vehicle to mobilise funding for fishery recovery projects in Africa and Sids.

He said the key precept of this mechanism is to mobilise private resources at affordable rates, which is a key element in terms of financing development.

He also called on the support of development institutions, including United Nations agencies, to ensure such a success.

“In order, for developing countries, to deliver on the ambitious post 2015 goals we need options that go beyond business as usual. We need to find innovative ways to address development challenges, set national development strategies, come up with realistic priorities and engage with development partners at national, regional and global levels,” added Vice-President Faure.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, Joel Morgan, described the year 2015 as a very important one which will see the completion of the MDGs and will go through the adoption of a post-2015 sustainable development agenda where Seychelles will continue to give its support to the work of the UN and contribute to its continued success.

He said the three-day meeting was to look at ways the UN can better support MICs.

He also mentioned President James Michel’s words where he said “high income status should not be a means to exclude countries like Seychelles and other Sids from legitimate development tools that allow them to adapt and build resilience against the vagaries of the global economy”.

“It must be pointed out that middle income countries or others who have graduated to the high income brackets are not necessarily always asking for financial support, but to have the right global environment to sustain their socio-economic development,” said Minister Morgan.

Besides Mr Springett, there were also presentations Leila Pakkal, regional director, Unicef Eastern and Southern Africa and R-UNDG ESA & WCA Champion on MICs on behalf of the R-UNDG.

Mr Springett said being a small island developing state with limited resources, Seychelles has emphasised good governance, dynamism, innovation, determination, resilience, and social cohesion as means of achieving long-lasting development gains.

“Seychelles’ approach to national development has paid off,” he said, adding that choosing Seychelles for this important meeting on middle income country strategic engagement was intentional.

Mrs Pakkal said today more than 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have achieved middle income status.

Over the next decade, the majority of countries on the continent will be considered as middle income.

She described this as a testimony to the rapid transformation of Africa, characterised by remarkable economic growth and strong development progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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