The adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration at the eighteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in November was a highlight of 2019 and a milestone for the Organization. The Lima Declaration of 2013 renewed the mandate of UNIDO, defined inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID), and laid the foundation for Sustainable Development Goal 9. The Abu Dhabi Declaration reiterates the clear mandate of the Organization and gives guidance for the way forward into the last decade of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Member States highlighted the role of UNIDO, among others, as a platform for private sector cooperation and in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
It is clearer than ever before that climate change and inclusive and sustainable development are the most urgent areas of action in our time. The years 2015 to 2019 were the five hottest ever recorded. Young people around the world taking to the streets, extreme weather conditions and natural disasters remind us of the urgency of the climate crisis, affecting the poorest the most. The other defining issue of our time is persistent extreme poverty and increasing inequality among and within countries.
Just as these major challenges are interrelated, the solutions are also interlinked. Inclusive and sustainable industrial development is an important part of the solution. The positive effects on job creation, income generation, economic growth and social inclusion are evident. At the same time, industry plays an important role in addressing the climate crisis via a more sustainable use of resources, as well as innovative and sustainable energy solutions that have the potential to create green jobs.
As the Organization of the United Nations mandated to address the complex development challenges through ISID, UNIDO strives continuously to increase the impact of its work to reduce poverty and inequality, while safeguarding the environment. With strong financial and political support from Member States and our partners, we remain committed to efficiency, effectiveness, results-orientation and transparency. We report on achievements in several areas in 2019 and on progress in advancing the management objective of “integration and scale-up”.
We report on achievements in several areas in 2019 and on progress in advancing the management objective of “integration and scale-up”. The Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) is a notable example in this regard, coordinating different streams of resources to advance ISID and other goals of the 2030 Agenda.
For UNIDO as the lead agency of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III), 2019 was an important year. In the year of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7), and under the Japanese G20 presidency that continued the work on industrial development in Africa, we advocated for structural transformation and sustainable industrialization of the African continent. In parallel to the efforts to advance the implementation of IDDA III, the Small Island Developing States Strategy 2019–2025 and the UNIDO Strategic Framework for Partnering with Middle-Income Countries were also adopted in 2019.
To better illustrate the contribution of UNIDO to development results and impact beyond financial figures, this edition of the Annual Report utilizes the new indicators of the integrated results and performance framework (IRPF).