Morocco, UN Sign Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita and the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Morocco Nathalie Fustier signed, on Monday in Rabat, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2027.
This UNSDCF represents the reference instrument for planning and monitoring the implementation of UN activities in Morocco, in order to achieve the 2030 Development Goals Agenda.
The SDCF 2023-2027 reflects the UN ambition to support Morocco’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. It was developed jointly with the Moroccan government and is aligned with the transformation goals of Morocco’s New Development Model as well as with the SDGs, Nathalie Fustier said during the signing ceremony.
This framework was also developed in line with government priorities, human rights and gender approach, in addition to identifying the comparative advantage of the UN system in a middle-income country such as Morocco, she added.
In this regard, the UN official highlighted the Kingdom’s various achievements in sustainable development, including the rate of child immunization which stands at 95%, the implementation of the social protection generalization and universal health coverage (70% of the population), in addition to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 45.5% by 2030 in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
For a country rich in human resources and driven by the visionary leadership of the King, the added value of the UN is first and foremost its capacity to gather, disseminate and exchange resources both to improve Morocco’s trajectory and to highlight its own successes and share its experience and expertise in the region and beyond, she said.
In September 2023, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, heads of state and government will meet in New York to monitor and review the mid-term implementation of the 2030 Agenda of the 17 SDGs, she recalled, noting that “this will also be an opportunity to take stock of the implementation of the UN reform, which Morocco has supported and of which it has been the first contributor among African states, through the Special Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF).”
She added that this meeting will also be an opportunity for the Kingdom to make its contribution to the global discussion on the response to the multiple and intertwined crises facing the world. “This meeting will be the halfway point: we have 7 years left to make the vision carried by the SDGs a reality,” she said.
The UNSDCF 2023-2027 was developed jointly by the Moroccan government and the UN Development System after consultations conducted by the Foreign Ministry and the Office of the Resident Coordinator with ministerial departments and national institutions, civil society, the private sector, academic circles, social partners and the Kingdom’s technical and financial partners.
The document outlines the priorities and strategic interventions of the UN agencies and entities, as agreed upon with the Moroccan government, in in a bid to support national policies and initiatives.
This Cooperation Framework was conceived in a context marked by the desire to rethink the Moroccan Development Model and by the economic and social repercussions of Covid-19 pandemic.
The four strategic orientations that emerged are characterized by their harmony with the transformation goals of the New Development Model, as well as by the imperative to leave no one behind.
This signing ceremony marks the effective entry into force of the fifth five-year development cooperation cycle between the Government of Morocco and the United Nations System.
