Catalyzing Change: Unlocking Impactful Financing at Scale through the United Nations Joint SDG Fund

10:30 - 12:00
Side Event Room 3 | FIBES Sevilla Exhibition and Conference Centre

Background

This high-level side event, co-hosted with the Joint SDG Fund, will showcase how Member States like Spain and Egypt are leading catalytic financing efforts for the Sustainable Development Goals while demonstrating the Fund's role as an agile instrument advancing development cooperation reform. The session will highlight successful country-led programs across diverse contexts—including least developed countries like Zimbabwe, Small Island Developing States like Cabo Verde and Suriname, Landlocked Developing Countries like North Macedonia, and fragile settings—that deliver tangible results in food systems, renewable energy, decent jobs, digital transformation, and social protection through innovative financing solutions coordinated by UN agencies and development partners. Through dynamic dialogue and concrete examples, the event aims to illustrate how the UN system's country presence and convening power effectively coordinate multi-stakeholder partnerships while leveraging resources from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, donors, and private sector partners to create scaled impact, strengthen governance, and channel financing that aligns with national priorities including nationally determined contributions, biodiversity targets, and inclusive economic recovery plans. The session will emphasize the urgent need to recapitalize the Fund's Catalytic Investment portfolio to finance a growing pipeline of projects while calling for deeper collaboration across the development financing ecosystem to break down silos and deliver collective impact through partnerships that span development finance, UN agencies, governments, and private actors.

Agenda

Keynote and Opening Remarks

  • Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group
  • H.E. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation of Egypt
  • H.E. Professor Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion of Zimbabwe
  • Introduced by Mr. Sergio Colina, Director General for Development Policies, Spain

Panel Discussion

  • Moderator: Mrs. Lisa Kurbiel, Head of Secretariat, UN Joint SDG Fund

Panelists:

  • H.E. Mr. Fahad bin Hamad Al-Sulaiti, Director General of the Qatar Fund for Development
  • Mr. Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator
  • Mr. Craig Cogut, CEO of Pegasus Capital Advisors
  • Prof. Dr. Dame Dimitrovski, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Republic of North Macedonia for Environment and Climate
  • Mr. Francis Malige, Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Closing Remarks:

  • Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development