Distinguished participants, esteemed representatives from the Institute of Ecumenical Studies of the Catholic University of Lviv, dear colleagues and friends,

On behalf of the United Nations Development Program, I am pleased to welcome you all to  the opening of the 14th annual Ecumenical Social Week. I am honored to be amongst such distinguished representatives from academia, churches, public authorities, charitable organizations, and the media who have gathered today to discuss and explore solutions to the many challenges confronting society today.

Let me begin by commending the organizers for their decision to select such a timely and pertinent topic for this year’s conference:  “Promoting the Common Good: Towards Sustainable Development of Society.”  Development thinking has evolved over the last few decades from focusing on satisfying basic needs to one based on human rights and the common good. The rights-based approach puts people at the centre of the development process and focuses on improving local communities’ self-reliance, social justice, and participatory decision-making. It recognizes that economic growth alone does not inherently contribute to human development and calls for changes in social, political, and environmental values and practices.

I am sure you are all familiar with the Sustainable Development Goals, a collection of interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. They were set up in 2015 through a process led by the United Nations and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030 – thus, the reason why the overall plan for their implantation is known as “Agenda 2030.”

There are 17 goals with 169 targets in Agenda 2030, all promoting the common good and taking into account the three dimensions of sustainability – social, environmental and economic. These are further expressed as 5 interrelated Ps to be addressed individually and collectively to promote the common good in a sustainable and holistic manner:

·         People: ending poverty and hunger in all forms and ensuring dignity and equality;

·         Planet: Protecting our planet’s natural resources and climate for future generations;

·         Prosperity: ensuring prosperous and fulfilling lives in harmony with nature;

·         Peace: fostering peaceful, just and inclusive societies; and

·         Partnerships: implementing Agenda2030 through local and global partnerships, including and especially with faith-based organizations and societies.

Faith-based actors and stakeholders have a vital role as a unifying force and as change-makers of sustainable development at both the global level and in individual countries like Ukraine. The United Nations has recognized this and is now engaging with faith-based organizations at many levels. The UN Interagency Task Force on Engaging Religion for Sustainable Development plays a leading role in this engagement.

Dear participants,

Let us now take a quick look at what is happening here in Ukraine. In September 2019, President Zelensky issued a decree on “Ukraine’s Sustainable Development Goals until 2030”, which gave new impetus to the country’s strong commitment to adopting the SDGs as a framework for its actions to develop into a modern and prosperous state.

The decree necessitated transformative changes to achieve, for example, a significant reduction of poverty and an increase in the quality of life for the most vulnerable groups, a substantial increase in the production of renewable energy and a decrease in the energy intensity of the economy, as well as increased transparency and accountability of government at all levels.

As part of its follow-up and review mechanisms, the Agenda 2030 encourages member states to “conduct regular and inclusive reviews of progress at the national and sub-national levels, which are country-led and country-driven.” These “Voluntary National Reviews,” as they are called, are important not just for benchmarking successes, but also to facilitate the sharing of experiences, challenges and lessons learned, and as a way to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

Ukraine submitted its Voluntary National Review last year. In it, the Government committed to several transformative pathways for the next ten years before the SDGs are to be fully realized – a period that the United Nations is calling the Decade of Action.

For example, in the Economic sphere, Ukraine committed to developing innovations and to create a green, circular economy, to improve productivity in the agro-industrial sector, to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and to fast-track digitalization in both the public and private sectors.

The Government also pledged to reduce all forms of inequality and to implement reforms in education, health care and decentralization. In the Environmental arena, the government pledged to end the unsustainable use of land, forest and water resources.

But – these are times of complex challenges, and the country’s ambitions have been impeded by the extended COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to control its spread. The pandemic has moved far beyond a health crisis to become a multi-dimensional human, economic and social emergency that further exacerbates vulnerabilities and inequalities.

In Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exploited deep pre-existing rifts between the relatively comfortable and the most vulnerable – gaps that separated people along the lines of digital access, income, gender,  ethnicity, and education. The most vulnerable (including youth, women, informal workers and migrants, people with disabilities, the elderly) were hit disproportionately hard.

In Ukraine, we are also well aware of challenges that are caused by climate change, conflict, migration, urbanization, and environmental degradation, including air, water and soil pollution, deforestation, and poor infrastructure.

As the Government of Ukraine charts a strategic direction to recovery beyond the COVID-19 crisis our collective efforts are essential.  To overcome many of the challenges the country is facing, Ukrainians will need to come together as one people in a whole of society approach. Social cohesion and a widespread sense of national solidarity are needed perhaps more than ever before. The importance of citizen engagement and genuine localized ownership of the development agenda is essential – tapping into the fundamental principles that our “common good” is about balancing actions for inclusive growth with environmental limitations.

Dear friends and colleagues,

In Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working closely with national and regional authorities, civil society, the private sector and other partners to support the country’s transformative journey to a modern and prosperous state.  And we will continue to work with the Government and people of Ukraine by supporting local and national socio-economic development throughout the country for as long as we are needed.

In closing, I would like to say I am greatly inspired by events like these, which provide a powerful arena for participatory and meaningful dialogue around accelerating the achievement of the SDGs. Thank you all for coming together on this momentous occasion. I look forward to hearing more about how we can work together to advance Ukraine’s social and economic development, a development that brings everyone forward – leaving no one behind.

Thank you.

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