General Assembly President Dennis Francis told the assembled leaders that the fact that “we are lagging in our promise cannot be the death knell for our blueprint” to “banish poverty from our societies, protect and preserve our planet, and to ensure prosperity for all.” Instead, he said, “bold and transformative action must be prioritized.”
Leaders from the 193 U.N. member nations then adopted a 10-page political declaration by consensus. It recognizes that the goals are “in peril” and expresses alarm that progress is either moving too slowly or regressing to pre-2015 levels.
It reaffirms more than a dozen times, in different ways, leaders’ commitment to achieve the SDGs, or sustainable development goals, reiterating their individual importance.
How can this be done in the next seven years?
The leaders have committed to accelerating action. But the declaration they’re working with is short on specifics.
At Saturday’s start of an “SDG Action Weekend,” Guterres reviewed for activists the grim findings in a U.N. report in July. On Monday, he did it again, saying that only 15% of some 140 specific targets to achieve the 17 goals are on track. Many are going in the wrong direction.
At the current rate, the report said, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty and 84 million children won’t even be going to elementary school in 2030 – and it will take 286 years to reach equality between men and women.
“The SDGs need a global rescue plan,” the U.N. chief said. He called the summit “the moment for governments to come to the table with concrete plans and proposals to accelerate progress.”
U.S. First Lady Jill Biden echoed the secretary-general at a reception Sunday evening organized by the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, for global champions of education. she said progress on achieving the SDGs “looks steep.” But she said the United States “will continue to be a partner will you every step of the way.”
As an educator for 39 years, she urged every country’s leader to invest in children, saying they will “help us build a more peaceful, stable world.”
Guterres said the most important initiative to rescue the overall plan is the proposal of an “SDG stimulus,” which aims to offset challenging market conditions faced by developing countries.It calls for immediate action in three areas:
—tackling the high cost of debt and rising risks of debt distress;
—massively scaling up affordable long-term financing for development, especially by public and multilateral banks;
—expanding contingency financing to countries in need.
Guterres told Monday’s opening session he was “deeply encouraged” by the political declaration, “especially its commitment to improving developing countries’ access to the fuel required for SDG progress: finance.”
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The commitments were far-reaching and ambitious. Among them: End extreme poverty and hunger. Ensure every child on Earth gets a quality secondary education. Achieve gender equality. Make significant inroads in tackling climate change. Create “universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” And achieve all of this by 2030.
