Washington, DC, 15 April 2023 – UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed was in Washington, DC, from 12 to 14 April, to participate in and lead the UN’s observer delegation to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings. During her visit, she said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “need an ,” calling on the multilateral banks to be “catalysts of private investment.” She warned that the SDGs were “” amid cascading global crises, highlighting the need to reform the global financial system.
“Tackling crises in this time is a challenge. But it is not impossible,” she Climate Investment Funds CEO Mafalda Duarte, stressing the need to “find ways to invest in resilience for those most vulnerable.” In another meeting, she , “Humanity has endured multiple crises in such a short span of time. We have the solutions to prepare and respond to climate change, poverty and inequalities. Now we must act.”
In a meeting with African Finance Ministers at the World Bank, Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed also “greater effort for the inclusion of African voices in the international community,” and voiced gratitude to hear the views of “many African Ministers of Finance on how we can bring their priorities to the table.”
The Deputy Secretary-General started her three-day trip to Washington, DC, with a visit to the UN Foundation, where she was received by that body’s President and CEO, Elizabeth Cousens, and introduced by Board Vice Chair Valerie Amos.
She also met with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and joined Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and US Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry for a discussion on how reforms of the multilateral development banks could spur global initiatives on climate, development and just access to energy.
During her time in Washington, DC, the Deputy Secretary-General met and interacted with a wide range of interlocutors, including UK Minister of State Andrew Mitchell, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Michele Sison, US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Markets Alexia Latortue, COP28 President-Designate Sultan Al Jaber, New Global Financial Pact Secretary General Jean-Pierre Landau, International Development Finance Club Chair Remy Rioux and International Finance Corporation Managing Director Makhtar Diop.
