Congratulatory Remarks by H.E. Kang, Kyung-wha
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Korea

5 February 2021 at Global Engagement & Empowerment Forum
on Sustainable Development

Your Excellency Ban Ki-moon,
Your Excellency Heinz Fischer,
President Suh Seoung Hwan,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished Guests,

It is a great honor for me to take part in the Third Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum.  I would like to thank Yonsei University, my alma mater, for hosting this forum during these very challenging times.

There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic is the defining challenge of our generation.  Today, the world has an important opportunity to come together and turn the costly lessons of this pandemic into a united drive to build a more inclusive, sustainable future for all.

In just a year, COVID-19 has undone much of the hard-won progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  Extreme poverty is rising for the first time in 30 years, and many of the food insecure communities are facing the imminent prospect of famine.  The global economy is facing a devastating recession.  More than a billion children are out of school.  And it is the most vulnerable and weakest members of humanity that are bearing the brunt of the crisis.

With the development of vaccines, hope for the end of the pandemic and return to normalcy is on the horizon.  But a very long recovery awaits us.  The 2030 Agenda indeed provides the blueprint for charting the recovery from the devastating consequences of the pandemic towards a more inclusive and sustainable world.

Therefore, as we mark the second year of the Decade of Action, fully aligning our global resources and efforts behind the 2030 Agenda is of critical importance.  We must redouble the spirit of the collective good embodied in the 2030 Agenda to build back better and greener.  I would like to offer a few points that will be central to such efforts.

First of all, we need to invest in strengthening national health systems and ensure equitable access to diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines for all.  Of particular importance at this point would be to keep so-called ‘vaccine nationalism’ at bay and ensure equitable and affordable COVID-19 vaccines to all.  A handful of countries hoarding vaccines defeat that collective good and will only prolong the pandemic.

Korea, under our Building TRUST ODA initiative, has been actively assisting countries respond to COVID-19.  To date, we provided health assistance to over 120 countries, while sharing our experiences in pandemic response.  And to help ensure equitable and affordable access to vaccines for all countries, we are taking active part in the COVAX Facility.

Secondly, there is a pressing need for climate action.  COVID-19 is a wake-up call to the existential threat of climate change.  Korea has joined the growing global coalition to more ambitiously confront the climate crisis, and last year pledged to go carbon-neutral by 2050.  We are pushing ahead with greening our economy and shifting to renewable energy under our Green New Deal.  And this coming May, Korea will host the second P4G Summit to catalyze public-private partnerships to promote green growth across the globe. 

Thirdly, building inclusive, resilient societies must lie at the heart of global recovery efforts.  COVID-19, while exposing existing fragilities, has deepened existing inequalities and deprivations.  From the outset, Korea has been adhering to the spirit of inclusiveness to ensure that the vulnerable in particular are not left behind. 

In addition to providing free COVID-19 testing, treatments, and eventually vaccines, we are providing job retention support, emergency relief payments and subsidies for low-income families, among others.  And going forward, employment and social safety nets will be further expanded through the Korean New Deal.  We will also continue to increase our humanitarian and development assistance to vulnerable communities in other corners of the world.

Lastly, we should intensify efforts to build and sustain peace in fragile contexts.  The pandemic is said to be exacerbating the risks and drivers of conflict – from cross-border insecurity, underdevelopment to climate related threats.  An integrated, coherent approach is essential for addressing such multidimensional challenges.  Over the years, Korea has been a steadfast supporter of reform efforts to promote coherence and coordination across the main pillars of the work of the United Nations. In tandem with our efforts to support international peacebuilding efforts, we are committed to providing integrated, coherent assistance to our partner countries.

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

To move forward on all these fronts, strengthening international cooperation and solidarity based on multi-stakeholder partnerships are paramount.  Building partnerships among governments, international organizations, international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society has never been more critical. 

The SDGs, under the active leadership of our former Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, brought together multiple stakeholders around a common vision and set of goals for a better future.  Today, many actors with the financial resources, technology and expertise are demonstrating unprecedented interest in working towards the SDGs.  Private investment in sustainable development has been on a rapid rise, surpassing $700 billion last year, according to some estimates.  Almost two-thirds of millennials align their investments with environmental and social values.

And social entrepreneurs are resorting to frontier technology, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, to help achieve sustainable development.

Indeed, in the depth of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed many different partners coming together in unprecedented ways to unleash innovation – such as the remarkable development of vaccines in record time and the rapid adoption of digital technologies around the world.

We need to take advantage of this paradigm shift.  As Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, the world has the resources to deliver the 2030 Agenda, already.  The question before us is how to connect the dots.

It is in this context that I look forward to this Forum’s continued leadership in catalyzing and harnessing the collective wisdom of all stakeholders in our common quest towards the 2030 Agenda.

Thank you very much. /END/