News
Making the Case for the Financing of "Soft Power” Development Drivers in Addis Ababa
The Director-General will participate in the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development that opens on 13 July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On the eve of the United Nations Summit in New York in September, the stakes of this Conference are high. “We have been very clear from the outset that the new global and transformative post-2015 agenda must go along with equally ambitious and credible means of implementation,” says the Director-General. “We are coming together here in Addis Ababa to agree on how to deliver on this commitment.”
UNESCO affirms that the best return on investment lies with empowering people through education, science and culture. To this end, at a side-event on “The Investment Case for Education” on 14 July, the Director-General will build on the Incheon Declaration to call for increased funding in order to realize the vision of 12 years of free education for every child and youth. The bottom line is that education is the ultimate game changer and the most powerful transformative force for beating poverty, improving health, driving growth and shaping equitable, green societies. The side-event is being co-organized with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Republic of Korea and Norway.
Harnessing women and men’s talent in the sciences holds the key to opening the doors of innovation and scientific progress to craft sustainable development solutions. This will be affirmed during a side event on the “Role of Science, Technology and Innovation for achieving sustainable development.” The event is jointly organized by the UN Interagency working group on the Technology Facilitation Mechanism comprising UNESCO, ITU, UNDESA, UNEP, UNCTAD, UNIDO, WIP and the World Bank.
She will also highlight the need to reinforce the capacities of all countries to collect reliable data, and advocate for the role of culture as an enabler and driver of sustainable development.
She will emphasize that to be credible, the new development agenda must leverage domestic and international sources of financing, and explore innovative modalities and partnership to achieve a future of dignity for all.
