Udenrigsudvalget 2020-21
URU Alm.del Bilag 187
Offentligt
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Concept Note & Agenda
Parliamentary Leadership for the 2030 Agenda Webinar Series
Designing National Budgets:
Translating Global Commitments into Realities
April 19, 2021 | 8:00 am to 10:00 am EDT | 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm CEST |
Other Time Zones
Every year, parliamentarians undertake the crucial responsibility of determining the allocation of public
resources through the approval of national budgets. As a decision with wide-ranging and lasting impacts
on the course of action to be taken by governments, budgeting entails a complex challenge that often
demands intricate familiarity and knowledge of specific policy areas. The COVID-19 pandemic, for
instance, has shown that parliaments must be up to the task of designing national budgets that can
provide the necessary resources to strengthen their public health systems, to ensure that their
economic recovery has a firm basis on the SDGs set out in the 2030 Agenda, and to address the specific
needs of groups who are facing conditions of vulnerability.
Budgets are a tool with the potential to deliver the transformative policies that will be needed as we
begin to build back better. However, parliamentarians must also find the means to influence the way in
which the budget is allocated, to prepare the bills and proposals relating to them and even to build new
majorities. In that view, the final webinar of the
Parliamentary Leadership for the 2030 Agenda Series
will be centered on
Designing National Budgets: Translating Global Commitments into Realities.
To
that end, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Parliamentarians for the Global Goals
(PfGG), and the International Health Partnership for UHC 2030 (UHC2030) will bring together a group of
experts and parliamentarians with the purpose of providing practical guidance on relevant issues that
are within the budgetary purview of parliaments.
How can the framework of the SDGs help parliamentarians in ensuring that budgets address the varying
needs of constituents and foster a sustainable economic recovery? What are the means at the disposal
of parliamentarians to strengthen national health systems through budgets and make them more
inclusive, particularly for women and girls? How can resources be effectively allocated to counteract the
serious setbacks in education brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic? How can budgets be linked
with accountability, particularly through the design and evaluation of results-based budgets? Can
parliamentarians navigate fiscal restrictions, particularly in developing countries, to provide relief to
those who have endured through considerable economic hardship over the past year?
To address these and other questions of a similar nature, this virtual event itself will be discussion-
oriented and structured to give participants actionable items that can serve to guide their work around
budgets in their own parliaments. A general overview on how to design budgets with gender and
sustainability perspectives as cross-cutting elements will be provided as a framework. Afterwards, the
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discussion will then move on to breakout sessions on budgeting for health; for a sustainable economic
recovery; and for education.
Please register here to attend online and indicate your preferred breakout session.
About the organizers:
The SDSN is a network of over 1,200 universities in 160+ countries working to
support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Parliamentarians for the Global Goals is a new
initiative by and for parliamentarians to promote the SDGs through parliamentary actions around the
world. UHC2030 is a global movement that seeks to strengthen health systems for universal health
coverage through a multi-stakeholder platform promoting collaborative work at both global and country
levels.
Draft Agenda
7:45 am EDT
8:00 am EDT
Virtual meeting room opens
Opening Remarks
•
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, President, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Overview. Designing National Budgets
Moderation: Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee
•
Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director of WHO EMRO
•
Dr. Ernesto Cordero, Former Minister of Finance and Speaker of the Mexican Senate
(TBC)
•
Dr. Elisabeth Hege, Research Fellow, Sustainable Development Governance
Programme, IDDRI
Breakout Sessions
Participants will proceed to a breakout session to discuss one of the three topics that
they have chosen during their registration.
•
Breakout session on budgeting for health, led by Dr. Aminu Magashi Garba, Africa
Health Budget Network
•
Breakout session on budgeting for a sustainable economic recovery, led by Dr.
Phoebe Koundouri, Athens University of Economics and Business; Fellow at the
World Academy of Art and Science; President-elect of the European Association of
Environmental and Resource Economists
•
Breakout session on budgeting for education, led by UNESCO (TBC)
Sessions will begin with short (10 minute) presentations from the session leaders.
Parliamentarians may comment on their own initiatives or field questions relating to the
topic of the breakout session of their choosing.
Closing Remarks
•
Kirsten Brosbøl, Founder, Parliamentarians for the Global Goals
8:10 am EDT
8:40 am EDT
9:45 am EDT
10:00 am EDT Adjourn
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 URU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 187: Invitation fra Parliamentary Leadership for the 2030 Agenda Webinar Series - Designing National Budgets: Translating Global Commitments into Realities, 19. April
Speaker Biographies
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, President, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and
global leader in sustainable development. He is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to
address complex challenges including debt crises, hyperinflations, the transition from central planning to
market economies, the control of AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, the escape from extreme poverty,
and the battle against human-induced climate change. Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for
Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he holds the rank of University Professor, the
u i ersity’s
highest academic rank. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions
Network, a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development, and an SDG Advocate for
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. From 2001-18, Sachs served as Special Advisor to UN
Secretaries-General Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban Ki-moon (2008-16), and António Guterres (2017-18). Sachs
has authored and edited numerous books, including three New York Times bestsellers: The End of
Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization
(2011). Sachs was the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for
environmental leadership. He was twice named among
Time
agazi e’s
100 most influential world
leaders and
The New York Times
called Sachs
pro a ly
the most important economist in the
orld.
A
survey by The Economist ranked Sachs as among the three most influential living economists.
Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee
Gabriela Cuevas Barron studied Political Science at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico
(ITAM), in addition to having participated in numerous programs and diplomas related to public
administration. She was elected Federal Member of Parliament for the first time when she was 21 years
old. Since then, she has been three times Federal Member of Parliament (2001
–
2003, 2009
–
2012,
2018
–
currently), as well as Local Member of Parliament (2003
–2006),
and a Constituent Member of
Parliament in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City (2016
–
2017) where she presided the
Commission of Mayors. Additionally, she was elected Mayor of the Miguel Hidalgo Delegation (2006
–
2009) becoming the only woman in charge of a demarcation during that period. She also chaired the
Foreign Relations Commission when she served as Senator of the Republic (2012
–
2018). Ms. Cuevas
has also collaborated in the Euro-Lat Parliamentary Assembly proposing resolutions about migration,
development, and economic crisis. In 2017 Gabriela Cuevas Barron became the youngest and the second
woman President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). As IPU President, she, along with a consortium
with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Women Political Leaders (WPL), is part of a
Generation Equality Action Coalition on Feminist movements and leadership. Ms. Cuevas is also a
member of the UHC Movement Political Advisory Panel to UHC2030. In addition, she is a Member of the
High-Level Steering Group of Every Woman, Every Child.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director of WHO EMRO
Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari was appointed as World Health Organization
WHO ’s
Regional Director for the
Eastern Mediterranean by
WHO’s
Executive Board at its 143rd session and assumed office on 1 June
2018. A native of Oman, Dr. Al-Mandhari has made a substantial, positive contribution to the
development and modernization of
O a ’s
health system, which has witnessed qualitative
improvements in recent years, particularly in areas such as patient safety. A specialist in family and
community medicine, Dr. Al Mandhari was Head of Quality Management and Development at Sultan
Qaboos University Hospital from 2005 to 2006, followed by Deputy Director-General for Clinical Affairs
until 2010. In 2013, he was appointed Director-General of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, later
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becoming Director-General of the Quality Assurance Centre at the Ministry of Health. Dr. Al-Mandhari
has also worked as a senior consultant in family medicine and public health in Oman since 2009.
Dr. Ernesto Cordero, Former Minister of Finance and Speaker of the Mexican Senate (TBC)
Dr. Cordero has served as Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Secretary of Social Development, and
President of the Board of Directors of the Mexican Senate. He has also been a professor of International
Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, of Economics and Statistics at ITAM, and of Econometrics
at CIDE and at the Universidad Panamericana.
Dr. Elisabeth Hege, Research Fellow, Sustainable Development Governance Programme, IDDRI
Elisabeth Hege is a senior research fellow in the Governance program. Her work focuses on the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a whole. She is
particularly interested in the integration of SDGs in national budgets and recovery plans; in the
comparison of national governance and dialogue frameworks; in the international follow-up at the High
Level Political Forum and in the Europe-Africa dialogue. She also followed the negotiations around the
Global Pact for the environment. Elisabeth graduated from SciencesPo Paris with a degree in
international development and previously studied political and economic sciences at the University of
Heidelberg in Germany. Her master thesis is on the following topic:"Scaling up Social Innovation for
Sustainable Development? The allocation of roles in community-corporate partnerships for renewable
energy projects in the EU ". During her studies, she did several internships abroad (India and Morocco),
followed by a post-graduate internship in Paris with Tilia, a consulting firm specializing in energy, water
and environment. Elisabeth is a member of the board of EPE.
Mr. Aminu Magashi Garba, Africa Health Budget Network (TBC)
Dr. Aminu Magashi Garba is the founder and coordinator of the Africa Health Budget Network, a
regional group that uses budget advocacy to influence adequate health spending and improved
transparency and accountability. He is the Global Co-convener of the Community of Practitioners on
Accountability and Social Action in Health (COPASAH). He is a member of the Global Action Plan (GAP)
for SDG 3 (Health for All) Civil Society Advocacy Group, the immediate past civil society representative to
the Global Financing Facility (GFF) Investors Group (2017/18), and currently a member of the steering
committee of the Global Civil Society Coordinating Group for the GFF. In 2018, he served on the WHO
Civil Society Advisory Group for its Health Financing Campaign. In Nigeria, he is a founding member of
the National Advocates for Health, a policy and advocacy think-tank engaging in high level advocacy on
health care financing reforms. In his voluntary capacity he has been a weekly health columnist with the
Nigerian Newspaper
Daily Trust
for over 17 years and publishes an online newspaper
Health Reporters
that reports on
Afri a’s
Health. He holds an MBBS degree from University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, and a
MSc in Public Health and Post Graduate Diploma from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine. During his undergraduate studies he was the Vice President of Nigerian Medical Students
Association (1997/98).
Dr. Phoebe Koundouri, Athens University of Economics and Business; Fellow at the World Academy of
Art and Science; President-elect of the European Association of Environmental and Resource
Economists
Professor Phoebe Koundouri holds a PhD and MPhil in Economics and Econometrics from the University
of Cambridge (UK). She is Professor (Chair) of Sustainable Development (Economics and Econometrics)
at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece) and she is the elected
President of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists (EAERE) (with
more than 1,200 scientific member institutions, from more than 75 different countries). Prof. Koundouri
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is listed in the 1% of most-cited women economists in the world, with 15 published books and more
than 250 published scientific papers. Professor Koundouri is also the Founder and Scientific Director of
the Research laboratory on Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability (ReSEES) at the Athens
University of Economics and Business and an affiliated Professor at the ATHENA Research and
Innovation Center (Greece) where she directs EIT Climate-KIC Hub Greece of the European Institute of
Innovation and Technology. She is also the co-chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development
Network Greece (UN SDSN Greece), chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Centre for
Research on the Environment and the Economy (ICRE8) and chair of the scientific advisory board of the
European Forest Institute. Notably she is currently member of the drafting Priministerial Committee for
10-year development plan for Greece, as well as in the Climate Change Committee of the Greek Ministry
of Environment and Energy. She holds a global leadership role in the UN SDSN for European Green Deal
(EGD) implementation, Sustainable Shipping and Ports, 4-seas Blue Growth Initiative and is leader
(together with Prof. Jeff Sachs) of the Senior Working Group on Transformation Pathways for the
implementation of EGD.
Representative from UNESCO (TBC)
Kirsten Brosbøl, Founder, Parliamentarians for the Global Goals
Kirsten Brosbøl is the founder of Parliamentarians for the Global Goals
–
a new global initiative for
parliamentarians who work on the 2030 agenda. Kirsten was an Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia
University in 2019/2020. She is a former MP and Minister of Environment of Denmark, and she founded
and chaired the Danish
Parlia e t’s
All-Party Group on the Sustainable Development Goals.
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