Prime Minister Davis Addresses UN/BDB Sustainable Development Goals Partnership Forum — Driving Force for Positive Nation Change

Nassau, Bahamas – Head of the Office of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance during a public address at the 2022 UN/Bahamas Development Bank Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Partnership Forum on September 5, 2022. Philip Davis said that when the Bahamas signed the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda with other UN member states in 2015, the underlying vision was “a shared vision for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.” It was to agree on a ‘blueprint’. future. “

Prime Minister Davis spoke at the inaugural forum held at Super Club Breeze Resort on “Transformative Partnerships for Sustainable Development Sustainable Futures”. “The scope and breadth of these goals, which are beautifully reflected in today’s agenda, demonstrate the scale of the task.”

“These are not easy things to achieve,” he added. “And even assuming there is sufficient political will to do so, it will be difficult to reach the target.”

Prime Minister Davis said the Bahamas has made progress towards achieving many of the SDGs since 2015. However, he said there were goals that remained stagnant or were actually receding.

“I understand that the Resident Coordinator’s Office has organized this forum today for this reason,” he said. “By bringing together many stakeholders, it is hoped that a number of multi-stakeholder partnerships will be developed to advance SDG progress in the Bahamas.

“I wholeheartedly endorse and support this initiative.”

Davis noted that he had received a mandate as prime minister and in a subsequent speech from the throne the administration had committed to working in partnership with the people of the Bahamas. It’s “not an empty promise,” he said.

“Many of the achievements in our office over the past year have been made possible because of that partnership,” Davies said. It’s a pity it’s designed to be.”

“While it may promote specialization and strengthen internal lines of accountability, it does not work well when working towards goals that cut across multiple ministries and government departments,” he added. “For example, when we articulate our desire to empower young people, it is clear that we do not expect that effort to be made solely by the Ministry of Youth.

“For example, education, housing, transport, finance, immigration, labor and national security will play a key role in achieving that goal.”

Prime Minister Davis said properly formalizing and building partnerships creates a better foundation for success, especially when the private and non-government sectors are involved.

“Of course, the irony is that the more organizations and people involved, the more likely bureaucracy, culture and personality gets in the way,” he said. Rather, this is to observe what the human structure is like.”

“So what else can we do to promote success?” he asked. “An important tool is to be absolutely clear about what your priorities are. Trying to do everything at once or having different ideas about what they are can lead to chaos and confusion. become more viable.”

For clarity, Prime Minister Davis noted that the other SDGs have not been abandoned.

“Priority is just that: the ordering of what we consider to be the most urgent and most important right now,” he said.

At the Prime Minister’s Office, Davis said he had set eight priorities that his administration would like to focus on.

He said: first “health and national health insurance”. The focus is on ensuring universal access to healthcare. Second, “Energy,” with a focus on reducing energy and oil import costs and shifting to renewable energy. Third is “education”. A particular focus is on empowering the Bahamian people through mentoring and lifelong training. Fourth is the economy. ”

“At this point, we need to make it clear that these priorities are not ordered, so we are not going to address health and education before turning our attention to the economy,” Davis noted. . “They all sit together as national priorities.”

“Regarding the economy, we are trying to grow the economy while reducing the tax burden on the Bahamians. Our fifth priority is to empower Bahamian youth. To significantly improve digitization and improve the ease of doing business Seventh, we aim to strengthen mitigation, adaptation and recovery from the impacts of climate change And finally, eighth, we aim to strengthen national to develop its infrastructure and make it more resilient.”

Mr Davis said he believed these priorities would not come as a shock to those attending the forum. Attendees were invited to consider

“As I said at the beginning, we have seen progress in some areas,” he said. “Many of them have benefited from sustained partnership efforts.”

After giving more detailed examples of aspects of government’s economic priorities, Prime Minister Davis also highlighted the environmental, social and economic challenges that arise from being both a small island developing state and an archipelago.

“When the Bahamas worked with other countries of similar composition to jointly create an Accelerated Mode of Action for Small Island Developing States, a very important partnership was born,” he said. rice field. “You may know it as the SAMOA Pathway.”

“This framework recognizes that small island developing States have particular challenges and vulnerabilities,” added Prime Minister Davis. “These vulnerabilities include high costs of infrastructure, transportation and energy. More existentially, increased vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change, limited economic resources and dependence on external markets It is included.

“All of these vulnerabilities make these countries more vulnerable to external shocks.”

He said the SAMOA Pathway will create partnerships between these states by declaring common challenges and working together to find ways to turn those challenges into shared, integrated solutions and opportunities. I pointed out that it creates strength.

“In November, my government will continue to advocate and negotiate a range of economic, technological and geopolitical issues at COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference,” Davis said.

“Just last month, the Bahamas took the lead by convening the first meeting of regional heads of government to build consensus on the region’s negotiating position ahead of COP27,” he added. “This effort will run alongside other initiatives involving young people in the Caribbean and other regional countries to learn, debate and build momentum for youth advocacy on climate change and climate mitigation methods.”

“These partnerships not only amplify our voices, they amplify our level of influence over how important decisions are made.”

Prime Minister Davis said that’s what effective partnerships do. He added that at the local level, efforts to address issues surrounding climate change are equally strong.

“There is a ‘Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiatives Act’ to support the global response to climate change and create initiatives to offset carbon emissions,” he said. “The Climate Change Advisory Unit officer is a member of the United Nations Carbon Credit Commission and

Small Island States, Climate Change Carbon Market Coordination and Adaptation Committee.

Davis noted that some of the effective partnerships brokered by his government extend to the energy sector as well.

“The government is in partnership with both the multilateral development banks and the European Union to step up infrastructure development to promote renewable energy,” he said. “This project will enable the construction of solar energy panel projects throughout the Bahamas.”

“This initiative is expected to benefit 13,000 to 17,000 residents,” Davis added. “Abaco should especially benefit.

“The installation of the microgrid should significantly improve the island’s power infrastructure, which is still severely weakened by Hurricane Dorian.”

On the digital front, Prime Minister Davis said the Digital Transformation Unit, Small Business Development Center and the Digital Transformation Projects Program overseen by the Development Bank of the Bahamas will officially launch soon.

The initiative seeks to promote information and communication technology ideas that improve innovation in the public sector, he said. “This program will encourage people around the Bahamas to present their ideas on technology and innovation,” said Prime Minister Davis. “Ordinary people will have the opportunity to contribute directly to the advancement of government technology.

“Prizes will be awarded for successful submissions.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that the SDGs are heavily integrated into the Bahamas’ national development plans. The document provided a roadmap for the country’s development by creating a comprehensive policy framework to guide government decision-making, he said.

“As part of our Independence Celebrations, in a speech I gave at the University of the Bahamas in July, I laid out the principles and values ​​my administration will follow in implementing its national development plan,” he said. “If you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to read it all to deepen and strengthen your approach to the Sustainable Development Goals.”

“Finally, I would like to highlight the framework for multilateral sustainable development cooperation,” added Prime Minister Davis. “The government has signed the framework and we are excited to start implementing the measures in the coming months.”

Prime Minister Davis said the Framework will act as an accelerator for the SDGs to foster partnerships between different sectors of government, civil society, local and international non-governmental organizations.

“I would like to thank you for everything you are doing with this and all the initiatives you are working on, and I wish you all the best,” he added.

“What you do has the power to change our country for the better.”