The Road to the SDGs

PURPOSE X The population of IsDB’s MCs is estimated to increase to 2.2 billion by 2030, from 1.7 billion in 2015 (i.e. by half a billion people). X The number of youth labour force (aged 15-30), which will continue to represent most entrants to the workforce, will increase by 100 million during the same period. Almost 80% of this growth will happen in urban areas, resulting in an expansion of the urban population to 56% of all inhabitants of MCs. This is coupled with a widening annual financing gap, estimated at US$ 1 trillion, to meet the SDGs. X In response to these challenges, IsDB arranged a structured annual Governors’ Roundtable, which was launched on the occasion of the IsDB 43 rd Annual Meeting in Tunis in 2018. The roundtable assembled again in Morocco in 2019. X The objectives of the roundtable are: – To jointly confer on IsDB ‘s future strategic direction and priorities – To underline the role of national governments in creating favourable conditions for IsDB to operate as an effective player in the transformation of its MCs. METHOD X IsDB’s new business model and P5P have enabled the coordination of efforts leading to comprehensive transformation of the end-to-end value chains in selected industries in which MCs have current or future comparative advantage. However, these steps forward are threatened by a number of significant risks facing MCs, ranging from the impacts of recent and emerging trends in geopolitics, technology and employment to the long- term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. X To help its MCs steer away from these risks while leveraging the benefits of its new approach, IsDB decided to organise an annual Governors’ Roundtable to enable MCs to share their experiences and agree on the top priorities of the institution for the year ahead. X Topics typically include: – Putting in place the right legislative and regulatory framework for private sector participation – Guiding technological and innovation choices – Mechanisms of consensus building and programme formulation – Creating safeguards to ensure social responsibility and broad-based participation. – Ways to engage the private sector to Governors’ Roundtable I sDB has embarked on a roundtable initiative as part of its quest for transformation and future-proofing of MCs The aim of the roundtable discussion process is to advance MCs’ transformative agendas by leveraging their knowledge on aspects such as engaging the private sector and civil society while ensuring top-down ownership of the new transformation agenda [ 216 ] SDGs