Position Paper GA2

Delegation from the Kingdom of Denmark

Position Paper for the General Assembly Second Committee

The Kingdom of Denmark is pleased to engage in all the many important subjects addressed by the committee, and we especially want to highlight the ongoing discussion concerning the Financing for Development; Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Development; and Disaster Risk Reduction. Denmark believes that working on these matters is crucial to further stimulating a global development and economic growth and expansion, which will improve the social environment and the quality of living for all.

1. Financing for Development

Denmark is aware of the importance of the Financing for Development in the world. According to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), foreign aid for financing for development is not enough. Even as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) calls on all actors (public and private), external finance for sustainable development has been decreasing. Total external finance declined by 12% between 2000 to 2013, and foreign direct investment (FDI) alone dropped by 30% over 2016 and 2017. Financing for development should be the priority for all countries. In fact, financing for sustainable development in poor and developing countries is an investment in the well-being of all nations according to the report of the OECD. Understanding the concerns about the availability of financing, Member States must be encouraged to find new ways of funding development to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

Denmark joined the OECD in 1961, making it one of the 36 member countries of this Official Development Assistance (ODA) program. However, Denmark is one of the only five Member States who reach the United Nations target of giving 0,7% of their gross national income (GNI) in development assistance and fundraising. In 1962, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark created a bilateral development assistance programme for developing countries, known as The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Denmark pledges to continue to help developing countries and is committed to promoting Article 20 of the Monterrey Consensus, the international conference on financing for development held in 2002. Article 20 asserts that “private international capital flows, particularly FDI, along with international financial stability, are vital complements to national and international development efforts”. Accordingly, Denmark presented a Draft Resolution to the General Assembly in April 2018, elaborating on its aspiration to increase investments in fundraising for development in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

Denmark now invites all Member States to consider empowering women and girls to promote gender equality, to eradicate poverty, and build a more peaceful, inclusive and prosperous world. Indeed, by mobilizing new sectors of the population, Denmark and all the other Member States would attract new resources and partners to complement their (ODA); by attracting new partners, Member States could seek to achieve all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and lift all people out of poverty. In addition, an OECD report stated that a increase of 1% of taxes in developing countries could produce an estimated additional revenue of 300 billion USD. This amount doubles the total official development assistance and would be greatly needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Finally, Denmark believes that the key to achieve the 2030 Agenda resides in the public-private-partnership (PPP); by using resources and expertise from the private sector, governments could deliver public infrastructure and public services to their populations.

1. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Sustainable Development

The Kingdom of Denmark recognizes the importance of information and communication (ICTs) for sustainable development. According to The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Geneva 2003-Tunis 2005, the Copenhagen Declaration and Tunis Commitment, ICTs is a significant tool to eliminate poverty and unemployment. It is important to build a people-centred Information Society, where everyone, regardless of background, can create and cooperate, sharing information to achieve their goals in promoting sustainable development. Unfortunately, just over one third of the population in developing countries have access to internet compared to 82% in developed countries and around 450 million people who live in rural sectors have difficulties getting a mobile signal. Denmark is persuaded that every Member State must work on these issues of accessibility.

In the 32nd session of the General Conference in Paris, in 2003, the Russian Federation and Denmark submitted a draft resolution explaining the importance of the media in reinforcing applications of ICTs. The objective here was access for all populations to knowledge and information, so as to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. With many countries having limited access to the advanced mode of news and information platforms, this objective is essential to contribute to sustainable development, democracy and good governance by fostering universal access and to distribute information and knowledge in developing countries and countries in transition through the field of electronic media and print press. Denmark will host the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Development (ICICTSD) in June of 2021 in Copenhagen. This substantial conference aims each year to bring leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share experiences and findings on many aspects of ICTs for Sustainable Development. It also provides platforms for countries around the world to discuss practical challenges encountered as well as solutions adopted in these fields.

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