Iceland will identify how its development co-operation will address leaving no one behind in a forthcoming parliamentary resolution. This resolution will build on current priorities, which are least developed countries and within these countries the hard-to-reach, rural populations, the most vulnerable and poorest people including people with disabilities. Iceland also focuses on gender equality, children and youth.
For Iceland, official development assistance has a comparative advantage in supporting the underfunded Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets in low-income countries, dealing with the root causes of poverty and fragility, and targeting specific needs. It believes that working to include the most vulnerable sections of the population in development is a prerequisite to reaching many of the SDGs.
To deliver on leaving no one behind, Iceland plans to sharpen its focus on the poorest and most vulnerable sections of the population in its partner countries, including children and minority groups. However, it stresses the need to focus on having better data and measuring results in order to have a clear picture of who benefits and who is being missed out in development processes. It also considers that the meaning and objectives of leaving no one behind could be clarified in terms of lifting the living standards of the world’s most underprivileged people.
