Video Message
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Welcome to the 10th anniversary of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals.
I thank our distinguished Co-Chairs, Ambassador Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco, and Ambassador Elina Kalkku, Permanent Representative of Finland, for their crucial leadership.
My sincere gratitude also extends to the Secretary-General’s 10-member group of high-level representatives for their contributions, and the UN Interagency Task-Team on STI for organizing these sessions.
Over the past decade, this Forum has served as a dynamic catalyst for change. It has brought together brilliant minds and pioneering innovations globally, united by a single objective: harnessing the transformative power of science and technology to eradicate poverty, protect our planet, and achieve the SDGs.
We have witnessed remarkable progress. From AI solutions in agriculture and healthcare to space technologies monitoring our oceans and climate, innovation has demonstrated the immense potential of science and technology to forge a better future for humanity.
However, the urgency has grown. Challenges to sustainable development are more acute. Climate change, environmental degradation, debt burdens, and strained multilateralism threaten our collective well-being and the path towards the 2030 agenda.
Therefore, this 10th anniversary of the STI Forum is far more than a milestone; it is an urgent call to action. The Pact for the Future, adopted last year, explicitly recognized STI’s enormous potential to accelerate sustainable development.
Yet, global leaders also acknowledged the stark reality: billions still lack meaningful access to life-changing technologies, and scientific benefits often remained locked behind paywalls.
The Forum is uniquely positioned to help dismantle these barriers. We match finance with promising innovations, champion open-science initiatives, identify ways to make technologies more affordable, and foster robust collaboration across disciplines and sectors, ensuring evidence informs holistic solutions.
This year’s Forum emphasizes how emerging technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, can serve as powerful enablers of sustainable development. This demands an unwavering commitment: ensuring AI development and deployment are accessible, inclusive and beneficial for all.
The Forum also spotlights the power of inclusive innovation. We actively engage women, youth, and marginalized communities in STI ecosystems. Their voices, perspectives, and contributions are vital for ensuring technological progress is equitable, responsive to diverse needs, and accessible to everyone.
To that end, we are proud to feature the ground-breaking work of 10 young innovators this year. They have developed STI solutions specifically tailored for low-resource settings. Examples include an AI mental health platform for refugees and disaster survivors, and technologies converting invasive aquatic weeds into biodegradable single-use plastic products.
As we look toward the critical years ahead, we must champion bold, creative and decisive actions. Strategic partnerships and targeted investments are needed to scale up innovations that can be game-changing on the road to 2030.
I assure you that my Department -- the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, remains deeply committed to this agenda -- bridging digital divides, ensuring equitable access to frontier technologies, and actively strengthening STI capacity and expertise globally.
Let us embrace this moment with shared determination and optimism.
Together, we can harness the immense power of science, technology, and innovation to drive sustainable development, enhance global cooperation, and fulfill our promise to leave no one behind.
Thank you.