The Director-General recalled the importance of anchoring the 2030 Agenda in the draft programme and budget of the Organization for 2018-2021 (39 C/5) as well as the important decisions adopted by the Executive Board at its last meeting and at its Intersessional meetings.  

She emphasized the need to increase focus in the programme sectors on their contribution to the 2030 Agenda, through the framework of the Draft 39 C/5, and notably in light of high budgetary constraints. She noted that a series of consultations would be held with Member States to further discuss this issue.  

Irina Bokova underlined her appreciation for the analytical work undertaken to position UNESCO in the UN System. In this context, she highlighted the UN-system wide processes relevant to the Organization’s work to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda -- including the new Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR), currently under negotiation, the outcome of the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development, held in July in New York, and the ECOSOC discussions on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system. She emphasized the importance of the new QCPR and the ECOSOC discussions for specialized agencies like UNESCO, with the focus now on adapting the UN development system to better support countries with the implementation and follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

She underscored that the 2030 Agenda calls for new approaches– through deep intersectoriality, through new partnerships and funding structures. She also highlighted the need to closely monitor and follow UNESCO’s contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The Director-General recalled that 9 of the 17 SDGs have direct relevance to UNESCO’s mandate and that the Organization would be adapting its support to specific country contexts, i.e. SIDS, LDCs, PCPDs, MICs and High Income Countries. She also noted that moving from the MDGs to the SDGs is a challenge.