The UAE’s participation in the 2025 UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, organised by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at UN Headquarters in New York, reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to building strong international partnerships, strengthening global development cooperation, and accelerating progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and beyond.
UAE Delegation at HLPF 2025
During the forum, the UAE delegation prioritised enhancing collaboration with countries and international organisations through a comprehensive programme of meetings and events. It held over 48 bilateral meetings, participated in 8 keynote sessions, and joined 10 side events and workshops aligned with the HLPF agenda. The UAE also hosted 10 side events to spotlight its local and global development model.
The delegation engaged with several senior international figures, including officials from New Jersey’s government, police, energy, health, and economic sectors. It also met with Her Excellency Dr. Rola Dashti, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA); Her Excellency Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Minister of Social Security at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of the Republic of Finland; His Excellency Bereket Tesfamariam, State Minister for Planning and Development of Ethiopia; and Dr Pungkas Bahjuri Ali, Senior Advisor to the Minister for Social & Poverty Alleviation; Head of National Secretariat for SDGs, Republic of Indonesia. Additional meetings were held with representatives from Nepal, Senegal, Japan, and China.
Strategic Diplomatic Engagements
The UAE delegation led strategic engagements with His Excellency Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Assistant Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Experience Exchange and Chair of the National Committee for SDGs, and international delegates including His Excellency Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson of the Board of India’s National Institution for Transforming India; His Excellency Radim Sršeň, Deputy Minister for Regional Development of the Czech Republic; and His Excellency Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. Additional discussions took place with senior leaders from the University of New York.
Enhancing Cooperation with Global Institutions
The UAE delegation also advanced cooperation with key global institutions, including the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and New York City Departments of Environmental Protection and Economic Cooperation. Through its Government Experience Exchange Programme (GEEP), the UAE held specialised sessions with delegations from Uzbekistan, Eswatini, Azerbaijan, Paraguay, Russia, Nigeria, and Mexico, reflecting the breadth of its global development partnerships.
Shaping the Future of Sustainable Development
Discussions during the forum centred on outlining long-term strategies for sustainable development through 2045, sharing best practices in strategic planning, and developing innovative, tech-driven solutions to global challenges. The UAE emphasised the value of partnership between governments, academia, and research institutions to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable development systems.
Abdulla Lootah: International Partnerships Central to UAE’s Strategy
His Excellency Abdulla Nasser Lootah, reaffirmed that international partnerships are a central pillar of the UAE’s development strategy and a core feature of its engagement in global forums such as the UN HLPF.
He emphasised the UAE’s ongoing efforts to build partnerships that accelerate SDG progress and enable global knowledge sharing across sectors, particularly in government excellence, service development, accelerators, public policies, and development strategy.
He noted that the UAE’s participation in over 48 bilateral meetings at HLPF 2025 highlight its strong commitment to advancing cooperation and sharing its successful development models in support of global progress.
UN High-Level Political Forum
The HLPF on Sustainable Development is the UN’s central platform for reviewing and advancing SDGs. Established in 2012, the forum plays a pivotal role in monitoring national and international progress on the 2030 Agenda.
Participating delegations at HLPF conduct assessments of progress toward the SDGs, with this year’s forum featuring in-depth reviews of five priority goals: SDG3 (ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages); SDG5 (achieving equality and empowering all women and girls); SDG8 (promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all); SDG14 (conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development); and SDG17 (strengthening and revitalising the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development).
