Foreign Minister participated in the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2020, where he reaffirmed Thailand’s commitment with the international community in accelerating action to achieve the SDGs and in promoting the importance of SEP. Thailand also joined hand with WHO and the Group of Friends of Universal Health Coverage and Global Health in organising the side event to promote UHC and the resilience of public health, especially the role of Thailand’s Village Health Volunteers, as part of the process to build back better after COVID-19. 

 

On 7-17 July 2020, the Delegation of Thailand, led by H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, participated in the virtual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2020, organised by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) under the theme “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”. 

 

During the General Debate, the Minister of Foreign Affairs joined the advocacy for global solidarity in accelerating action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and placed importance on the promotion of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) as a locally-driven development approach to achieve the SDGs and the mobilisation of all stakeholders in the development process to build back better after COVID-19. The Minister further called for equitable access to quality education, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), and sustainable food systems. 

 

Against the backdrop of COVID-19, the HLPF2020 focused on COVID-19 responses and recovery in a sustainable manner. Thailand, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Group of Friends of Universal Health Coverage and Global Health, co-organised a side event to promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the resilience of public health systems. One example cited was that of the role of Thailand’s Village Health Volunteers in responding to COVID-19. A representative from the Thai private sector also featured as a panelist, recommending better coordination between the public and private sectors in the promotion of the empowerment of women entrepreneurs and sustainable business models.

 

Thai MFA delegates also played an active and constructive role at the Global Technical Meeting (GTM2020) on “Reimagining Volunteering for the 2030 Agenda”, a special event during HLPF 2020. The Director-General and Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Organisations, as speakers at GTM2020, shared Thailand’s policies, case studies and lessons learned in working with stakeholders, and reflected on how innovative pathways can help mobilise volunteers to join forces towards SDGs realisation. Examples raised include the Village Health Volunteers, the SEP, the Friends from Thailand (FFT) Volunteering Programme, and the Open-ended Working Group for the SDGs initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with civil society, and Thailand’s annual Voluntary National Review (VNR) for 2020 under the theme of “Volunteerism for the SDGs”.

 

Mobilising all stakeholders, including volunteers, women and youth, to strive towards sustainable development, is one of Thailand’s priorities during its membership of ECOSOC for the term 2020-2022.

 

Minister Don Pramudwinai’s VDO message at HLPF2020 can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86zij9aCsdg