At the sidelines of UNGA79, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United Nations Development Programme will convene a panel discussion – alongside a range of partners – to strengthen cooperation on the Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in contexts of fragility.

This is a continuation of discussions at the second annual UK-Saudi Arabia Development Dialogue in May 2024 where respective institutions from both countries reaffirmed the joint commitment to get the SDGs back on track. Central to these fruitful discussions was the desire to work together, as well as in conjunction with partners in multilateral fora, to deliver humanitarian, development and peacebuilding in Fragile and Conflict Affected States (FCAS) in a conflict sensitive and inclusive way

UNDP and KSrelief are collaborating on improving the practical application of the Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus (HDPN, or ‘the Nexus’), through a series of high-level dialogues.

With a renewed recognition of the importance of peace as a requirement for sustainable development, including through the UN Secretary General’s New Agenda for Peace, UNGA79 presents an important opportunity to explore shared approaches to preventing and responding to conflict, humanitarian crises and fragility, and building sustainable peace to inform future approaches through best practice across multiple contexts.

The panel discussion will explore the underlying drivers of  crisis, conflict, the stalling SDG progress, and the challenges of delivering the SDGs in fragile and conflict affected states. 

It will focus on best practices and lessons learned, to help achieve the SDGs, which can be applied to fragile, and conflict affected settings through national and sub-national level programmes.