How the UN Plans to End Poverty and Ensure Prosperity
The General Assembly President Peter Thomson briefed United Nations (UN) Member States Tuesday on the implementation strategy for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the transformative 17-point framework for ensuring peace and prosperity for all on a healthy planet.
According to a UN statement, he spoke of transforming the world by eradicating poverty and generating collective prosperity.
He said it can be achieved by addressing inequalities – particularly with regards to gender and the advancement of rights for women and girls, creating a safer and more just world, and combatting climate change and protecting the natural environment.
The 2030 Agenda “was grounded,” he said, “in the principle of ‘leaving no-one behind,’ ensuring human rights for all, and engaging young people.”
[ Support RMN Foundation Free Schools for Poor Children ]
Mr. Thomson, briefing Member States informally, reaffirmed the commitment he made when he took the Oath of Office in June of this year, which he says is “rooted in my deep belief that only through the attainment of sustainable development will sustainable peace and human rights be realized for all.”
Mr. Thomson announced that in order to motivate actors at global, regional, national, and community levels, he had appointed an SDG implementation team, to be led by Special Adviser Ambassador Dessima Williams along with experts from the UN Secretariat and secondees from other agencies.
[ Meet the Next UN Secretary-General: António Guterres ]
These include the UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank Group, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Member States. Ambassador Macharia Kamau will serve as the Special Envoy on SDP Implementation and Climate Change.
The team will focus on three key tracks:
- Raising the global public’s awareness of the importance of SDG implementation;
- Strengthening momentum in the implementation of each of the 17 SDGs; and
- Supporting the UN and related agencies in making their maximum contribution to SDG implementation at all levels.
The President of the General Assembly acknowledged that while responsibility for implementing the SDGs lies primarily with Governments, the UN has a central support role in order to see that the Goals are put into action.
