[Unofficial] Transcript of UK's Voluntary National Review to the UN High Level Political Forum, July 16

01:40 - 04:54

Rory Stewart Secretary of State for International Development

Thank you very much indeed, can you hear me.

We are very very proud as the United Kingdom to have the opportunity to discuss with our colleagues, to learn from you and to present our first Voluntary National Review. 

This has been a wonderful journey for us, we are of course as a country very proud that we continue to spend 0.7% of our GNI on international aid but of course the VNR process has brought the spotlight from what we do abroad to what we do at home.

It’s been a process of learning, some things that we have done well, and some things where we really haven’t done well and where we have much more to learn.

So the process of the VNR, the very large document that I hope some of you have read, shows that in our review we have of course confirmed that we have made some progress.

On climate for example we have now committed to ‘net zero’ by 2050 and I look forward to discussing perhaps, some of that detail with you. 

We have achieved remarkable employment figures, some of the best employment figures we have ever had historically

Over the last 10 years our education has significantly improved, more children in good and outstanding schools than ever before.

But there are also very significant challenges in development in Britain. 

In housing for example, we have 2 million fewer homes than we should have.

In relation to food banks, we have serious problems of people accessing food. 

We have issues of child poverty. 

And for me particularly I am very struck by some of the very significant issues that we have and suffering that we have within our prisons.

This process then has been a process of learning of what we have done well and what we have done badly, it has been a process of learning also from our devolved administrations for the work that Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales has taken, often better work than what we’ve undertaken in England in providing the data and the structures to drive change. 

But above all and it’s on this I want to conclude, for me as an International Development Secretary, it has given me a unique insight into the challenges that developing countries have.

For the first time I understand now doing it domestically the challenges that people internationally have, my partners internationally, when they talk about the issues of pushing ahead with health reform or education reform in Nigeria or Myannmar.

I can see through the challenges that we have in the United Kingdom in addressing adult social care, the way that we deal with the frail and elderly, how much that connects politics to resources, to the media the ways in which and the things we are criticizing ourselves in the VNR are things for which we are also criticized by the opposition in parliament.

And the way in which we take from this the fundamental lesson of development, whether abroad or at home in the United Kingdom, connects so intimately with issues of money with politics and power and above all therefore the lesson we have taken from this is the lesson of humility, that the only wisdom is the lesson of humility, humility is endless. 

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0500-0839

Michele Giddens, Co-founder & Partner - Bridges Fund Partner

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0850 - 1200

Claire Melamed, Chief Executive Officer - Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

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1210 - 1500

Rebecca Hawkins, Campaigns and Communications Executive at The Climate Coalition

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1500

Rory Stewart Secretary of State for International Development

Well thank you all very much indeed, we are now going to go to questions from the floor, because this is all about learning from other countries, but I just want to reflect very briefly on what we have heard because it seems to me the important lesson here is that civil society and partnership doesn’t need to be a bland, fluffy polite type of engagement.

"...civil society and partnership doesn’t need to be a bland, fluffy polite type of engagement."

What’s nice about what I’ve just heard is the way in which, Becca for example, was actually criticizing the UK government, challenging us on what we are already doing on the move to Net Zero, the way in which speech on impact investing really revealed what the private sector can do which the government cannot do in terms of focus on debt, equity and currency fluctuations and or in relation to data the really clear illustration that the data revolution needs to be driven by the private sector and then pushed over to government so that that partnership is about the government setting the regulations and structure to tap that private sector.

If we can get that right then those words like civil society and partnership can be just be not just platitudes but real drivers for positive change. 

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1604 - Q&A

AUSTRALIA - please provide more detail on how to encourage tech sector in developing creative solutions to meet the SDGs?

ALGERIA - inequalities are a main challenge - what are the next steps from the UK?

INDONESIA - what is the UK’s experience in delivering SDGs in different regions/administrations and what has been learned in this regards?

ICELAND - what are the main lessons learned, what would have done differently?

CROATIA - share more of the UK’s approach to tackling climate change?

WOMEN’s MAJOR GROUP

The UK’s VNR has failed to demonstrate accelerated ambition to implement the SDGs. Without a comprehensive delivery plan the UK will not be able to tackle the critical gaps in achieving the goals or reverse the policies leading to regression. 

There is a lack of progress in tackling the multiple factors that lead to inequalities. Recent evidence from the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, noted the disproportionate impact of UK austerity policies on the poorest, on women, people with disabilities, children, ethnic minorities, migrants, and other marginalized groups. 

This plan must demonstrate a significantly improved commitment to the UK’s human right obligations. 

When will the government create a transformative national action plan for achieving the SDGs which ensures coherence around domestic and international policies, is lead by a ministerial department with a cross-government mandate and takes full account of the UK’s human rights obligations?

The perspectives of diverse stakeholders are insufficiently reflected in the review, and the voices of the most marginalized are notably absent. The proposed stakeholder engagement mechanism must be meaningful and accountable and involve a range of actors working across domestic and international issues.

When will the government provide details on the proposed mechanisms for stakeholder engagement and specifically how will this engage marginalized groups in all levels of government and will it commit to a collaborative national SDG communication strategy and raise awareness and drive progress.

The government has not officially involved local governments so critical to the success of the Goals in the British overseas territories. These stakeholders require greater direct support for delivery and for their voices to be properly heard. It must engage with existing good practice such as the leadership in Scotland and Wales on the SDGs. It must also engage with the recommendation in today’s International Development Committee report, which we endorse…

NGO Major Group

The UK’s delivery of the SDGs is undermined by inconsistency of policies at home and abroad. And with it’s obligations to human rights and environmental standards. The VNR merely sign posts integers rather than exploring implications and solutions. This reflects a lack of policy coherence across government.

For example the UK’s investment in global mechanisms that support environmental sustainability is undermined by a lack of action to address domestic mass consumption of products that contribute to environmental degradation. So please detail how will the UK close the gaps in coherence between international and domestic policy, human rights and environmental standards?

The UK has not properly aligned its foreign policies with sustainable development. Trade and defense priorities must not violate human rights obligations.

For example arms exports and licensing, especially to countries that violate human rights, must be subject to scrupulous, transparent examination and civil society review to demonstrate continued commitment to achieving SDG16.

So when will the government, the UK government commit to a comprehensive strategy that aligns sustainable development with trade investment and decent work, security, peace, and human rights? 

The VNR process has failed to engage governments and stakeholders in partner countries in the global South. The UK’s approach must respect and be lead by national and regional priorities.

The UK government must provide more direct financial and capacity building support to national governments and civil society beyond data capacity, so they can take their own SDG planning, delivery and monitoring.

My final question, when will the UK increase direct support to governments and local civil societies in the Global South to achieve the…

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24:20

Rory Stewart Secretary of State for International Development

I’ve got two minutes to respond to all of these points and questions. Let me quickly see if I can get ten or 15 seconds from my colleagues. Does anyone want to come in? Do you want to come in briefly on any of these issues?

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24.43

Michele Giddens, Co-founder & Partner - Bridges Fund Partner

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25:07

Rory Stewart Secretary of State for International Development

OK, I’m going to be me now. Let me in the last minute try to deal with the questions that were raised. I think the first thing just to frame it, is there clearly is a great deal that we need to learn through this process. 

On the question on inequality raised by Algeria, I would say focussing particularly on some of the most vulnerable and marginalised, in particular categories such as illegal migrants, prisoners, the gypsy traveler communities would be examples of communities that have been overlooked traditionally by all types of British government, and moving the conversation on from a binary conversation about inequality towards the very poorest most vulnerable is very critical. In relation to the question from Indonesia, the administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have very different frameworks and different well-being frameworks from which we have learned an enormous amount. 

But with only 30 seconds to end, I would like to pay tribute to the civil society organizations for their challenge. This is the purpose of this. It is extremely important to understand that Britain gets a lot of things wrong. 

There are many ways that we can improve. It is also important to understand that the answers of course, to some of these questions is that they go deeply to the structure of the British economy, deeply to the structure of British foreign policy, and if we had longer there would be many ways of pushing back at some of these critiques. 

But these critiques are important because they are important for every country. 

"Those same elements of lack of coherence and the same imputations of hypocrisy could be leveled at almost any member state of the United Nations .."

Those same elements of lack of coherence and the same imputations of hypocrisy could be leveled at almost any member state of the United Nations and all of us need to work together to think about how the platitudes and statements we make about the Global Goals, actually relate in practice to our actions on the ground. 

27:01 ENDS