Background paper on the subtheme “strengthening the means of implementation and the partnership for sustainable development”

Abstract

Sustainable development goal 17 is centered on strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership and cooperation for sustainable development in order to achieve all the goals. With regard to financial resources for the achievement of the sustainable development goals, net official development assistance (ODA) to Africa was $27 billion in 2016, of which $24 billion was for sub-Saharan Africa, representing falls in real terms of 0.5 per cent for Africa and 0.7 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, ODA, as measured by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), currently stands at approximately $160 billion annually and remains a singular and important driver of development cooperation, mainly on the part of OECD countries and emerging non-traditional donors. Nevertheless, other resources such as foreign direct investment (FDI), capital markets, domestic resources and remittances far exceed ODA. It is in this evolving context of global development finance that there is a transition from a model concentrated mainly on covering financial needs through ODA and external debt to a model placing a greater emphasis on domestic resource mobilization and other emerging financial instruments.