UN Secretary-General António Guterres will join Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator and Maria Ramos, until recently CEO of ABSA Group, as Co-Chairs of his Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, to launch a new report People’s Money: Harnessing Digitalization to Finance a Sustainable Future at an event in New York City on 26 August at 10 am EDT.

The Street Reporters Newspaper reports that in advance of the report launch, media are invited to an embargoed pre-briefing at 8.00 am EDT Tuesday 25 August with Task Force Co-Chair and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner and Simon Zadek, Head of the Task Force Secretariat, to highlight key findings.

In case of any response to the briefing, participants were advised to email Florencia Soto via sotonino@un.org.

About the Report

The unprecedented social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the role of digital finance in providing relief for millions around the world, supporting businesses and protecting jobs and livelihoods.

The report, “People’s Money: Harnessing Digitalization to Finance a Sustainable Future”, highlights how billions of people around the world are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic using digital tools to work, spend and socialize. It argues there is an historic opportunity to harness digitalization in placing citizens, the ultimate owners of the world’s financial resources, in control of finance to ensure that it meets their needs, today and in the future.

The report identifies key opportunities going forward to use digital finance as a critical building block for sustainable development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Who: Achim Steiner, UN Development Programme Administrator and Co-Chair of the Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals

Simon Zadek, head of the Task Force Secretariat

What: Embargoed media briefing prior to launch of the final report of the UN Secretary-General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals: People’s Money: Harnessing Digitalization to Finance a Sustainable Future

When: 8.00 am EST Tuesday 25 August

Where: New York City. To join the briefing online, please see details below.

Instructions to connect:

Please copy this link into your Google Chrome browser: https://bit.ly/3gsFp2o

You may be asked to enter the following info to join the meeting:

Event number: 129 755 7721

Event password: press_briefing

All participants should keep their mics muted when not speaking.

Who to contact if participants have a problem with the connection? Participants should send an email to unvc@un.org with reference to the Webex# along with their phone number and a BCSS technician will contact the participant ASAP.