Panel 3: Perspectives from the UN Member States

H.E. DR. ARBEN MALAJ, President of the Institute for Public Policy, Good Governance and Former Minister of Finance and Economy in Albania, delivered his remarks on incentivizing better education. H.E. Malaj began by acknowledging the paramount importance that the panel’s discussion holds as it is necessary “to act together globally and find ways to improve and enhance public and private partnership as a key element of the success of this noble mission.” He went on to discuss the detrimental effects that the recent world crises have had on the development of maladministered countries.

HON. NDEYE AWA MBODJ, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and President of the Network of Parliament for Promoting the Defense and Integration of Senegalese Diaspora, delivered her speech on the parliamentary contributions to the sustainable development. As a form of economic development aimed for reconciling economic and social progress with environmental conservation, H.E. Mbodj said that sustainable development should combine several requirements: fulfilling present and future generations’ basic needs, improving the quality of life, strengthening of rights and freedom,

He graduated in agricultural engineering in 1988 and pursued post-graduate studies in renewable energy and environment science, business administration and philosophy which best position him to deal with complex development processes. He has written several books on political philosophy and served as a Member of the East African Parliament from 2001 to 2012; and was elected the President of the Tanzania Red Cross Society and subsequently Member of the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) Governing Board from 2013 to 2015. He is currently an entrepreneur and a Doctor of Business Administration Scholar on Contract Farming Research with Maastricht School of Management and the East and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI).

DR. TRAN VIET THAI, the Deputy Director-General of the Institute for Foreign Strategic Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, started his remarks by mentioning the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam coordinating with various organizations in Vietnam to review how Vietnam has been so far in implementing the MDGs, initiated by the United Nations. He underlined that Vietnam have accomplished at least 3 goals of 2015, in advance.

Dr. Thai underlined that the first lesson they realized after reviewing is that the government of Vietnam has a very high political will and commitment in implementing the MDGs.