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Development Cooperation in Middle-Income Countries
04/12/2018
December 4, 2018,
Trusteeship Council Chamber, UN Headquarters, New York
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Background
Objective
Format
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MICs, as a group, have traditionally grown faster than countries in other income groups and experienced a significant decline in poverty. However, there are significant differences among MICs and many are still facing persistently high inequality in all its forms, with large pockets of poverty and low quality of social services in rapidly urbanizing environment. The panel, representing a mix of experience from individual countries, will generate discussion on the successes and challenges in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for middle-income countries and the lessons learnt from institutions whose work impact MICs.
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The United Nations role in facilitating South-South and triangular cooperation among MICs is key to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The panel is expected to generate discussion on the role of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Key issues include country-specific constraints that impede trade and investment flows, designing trade and investment agreements that can augment technology transfers and improve economic diversification, and promoting inclusive and sustainable development.
Participants
Outcome
Key Questions
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What are the major gaps and challenges faced by MICs face in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs? -
What form and structure of development cooperation is necessary for the middleincome countries to achieve sustainable development, including through sustained economic growth, while reducing inequalities in all its forms? -
How can the UNDS, MFIs and regional banks respond better to varied and fastchanging needs of MICs? -
Where are some of the biggest opportunities to build and expand South-South and triangular cooperation for MICs and by MICs? What more can be done to improve the effectiveness of the UNDS to promote it? -
What role can multilateral development cooperation play to increase private financial flows – especially foreign direct investment (FDI) – to the middle-income countries? -
What are some of the areas to boost capacity building and partnerships, not only within government institutions, but in central government, civil society actors and private sector entities? -
What are the impacts (positive and negative) of frontier technology on MICs and how do they contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda? -
How can the MICs harness the potential of innovation and entrepreneurship to promote realization of sustainable development? -
How can the high-level political forum on sustainable development and ECOSOC support implementation of the 2030 Agenda in middle-income countries?
Key Facts on MICs
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Currently 109 countries categorized by the World Bank are situated within the middle-income category and this grouping is home to more than 70 per cent of the world’s population. This means that most countries and the majority of the population of the developing world is now located in the middle-income category. -
The share of MICs in total gross capital formation in the world has risen dramatically from an average of only 0.17 in 1960 – 1969 to 0.45 in 2010 – 2016. -
MICs are highly diverse. Lower-middle-income countries face the challenge of continuing to mobilize development financing, there are pockets of poverty, often in marginalized groups, frozen conflicts and weak resilience in the face of natural disasters. Higher-middle-income countries have become donors of development assistance. Greening their economies, boosting the job market, modernizing government administrations and harnessing innovation are nevertheless structural bottlenecks they face. -
Demographic and social dynamics in the MICs pose a big challenge to the implementation of SDGs, coupled with the fact that most of their economies have limited diversification. -
MICs in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) represents 8 per cent of the world´s GDP, 6 per cent of world exports and close to 7 per cent of global gross fixed capital formation. The upper middle countries of LAC concentrate half of the existing poor and indigent population of the region. -
In the African region, 21 MICs account for about 50 per cent of the population and have high population growth rates. High rates of inequality, migration, and unplanned urbanization are among the key challenges to realizing sustainable development in African MICs. -
MICs make up the majority of countries in the ECE region. -
MICs do not all have the same capacity to mobilize resources. Access to external resources can depend on many factors besides per capita income, including external conditions beyond the control of middle-income countries, such as credit rating, risk perceptions and existing vulnerabilities, external demand conditions and country size. More diverse set of
external sources of development finance does not necessarily ensure a greater capability to strategize development priorities. -
For MICs, there is a relative decline in more traditional forms of financing for development, such as ODA, and the emergence of new actors, mechanisms and sources of finance. Emerging donors, and innovative financing mechanisms and climate funds, among others are all playing a stronger and more visible role in development finance. -
Many MICs, along with other developing countries face a huge challenge of data availability on the indicators of the SDGs to measure progress. -
Weak governance and accountability are among the challenges that can have important implications for the realization of the SDGs in some MICs.
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Documents
Letters
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