Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani delivered the ESCWA statement at the UN high-level political forum held in New York on 2030 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs. The statement noted the findings of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development 2018 held in Beirut last April and chaired by Lebanon under the patronage of Prime Minister Saad El-Hariri.

The ESCWA had organized in collaboration with the Arab League and the UN organizations working in the Arab region the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development 2018 under the theme “Natural Resources, Future Generations and the Common Good” that paved the way for approaching the theme of the HLPF 2018 from an Arab perspective.

Hasbani conveyed to the attendees the messages of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development 2018, including some basic principles, such as strengthening partnership with non-governmental sectors and private sectors, addressing structural barriers to development efforts in the Arab region, highlighting the role of scientific research and technology to achieve sustainable development and the importance of data availability to assess the real situation and monitor progress.

As for the natural resources and future generations, Hasbani stressed the importance of using, managing and distributing them equitably. He also noted that the transformative change – goal of 2030 plan – requires a cultural change in how to deal with the natural resources through individual and collective practices that take into account the needs of the future generations.

With regard to gender equality in the national development plans, Hasbani stated that the participants in Beirut Forum focused on the importance of disseminating this concept and involving women actively in development planning and decision-making.