The United Nations has adopted a political declaration to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations | Levels | Summit | Commitment | Implementation | Declaration | Sustainable Development Goals | Goals
As one of the core activities of the 78th United Nations General Assembly High Level Week, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Summit kicked off on the 18th at the United Nations headquarters in New York. On that day, the United Nations General Assembly passed a political declaration, in which member states pledged to accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The 78th President of the United Nations, Francis, stated at the opening ceremony of the summit that 193 member states of the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, promising not to let anyone fall behind. These 17 goals are like guiding lights, guiding us to build a more fair, just, and sustainable world. It is now necessary to evaluate progress and make new commitments to comprehensively promote the achievement of this goal.
UN Secretary General Guterres said in a speech that the Sustainable Development Goals are not just a series of goals, they carry the hopes, dreams, rights, and expectations of people around the world. However, nowadays, only 15% of the goals are progressing as expected, and many goals have even experienced a regression in progress. There is an urgent need to develop a global plan to salvage the achievement of these goals.
Guterres emphasized the need to take action in six key areas, including addressing hunger, transitioning to renewable energy, leveraging digital transformation opportunities, improving the quality of education for children and adolescents, achieving gender equality, and addressing climate change.
A forward-looking political declaration was passed at the meeting that day. The declaration promises to provide funding to developing countries, including at least $500 billion annually in sustainable development goal stimulus programs, as well as effective debt relief mechanisms. The declaration also calls for changing the business models of multilateral development banks and reforming the "outdated, imbalanced, and unfair" international financial architecture.
The President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Navas, is encouraged by the adoption of the declaration, stating that it demonstrates the firm commitment of world leaders to achieving sustainable development goals. She said that the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly should become a turning point, making the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals ultimately a reality.
It is reported that this year's Sustainable Development Goals Summit will last for two days. The high-level dialogue on financing for development will be held shortly thereafter.