NEW YORK: The UN secretary-general and the president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday joined world leaders and goodwill ambassadors in a global call to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and get back on track to building a better world that "leaves no one behind".
With time running out on the achievement of SDGs, and against the backdrop of calls for bold solutions to solve the world's deepening challenges in this year's UN General Debate, which opens Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened the third SDG Moment to urgently spur stronger commitments to ensure successful SDGs implementation.
"The world has a long 'to do' list", Guterres told world leaders, asking for more finance and investment from the public and private sectors, to meet growing needs, reported Xinhua.
Acknowledging the current "moment of great peril" for the world, characterised by conflicts, climate catastrophe, division, unemployment, massive displacement and other challenges, the secretary-general said that although "it was tempting" to put long-term priorities to the side, development could not wait.
"The education of our children cannot wait. Dignified jobs cannot wait. Full equality for women and girls cannot wait. Comprehensive healthcare, meaningful climate action, biodiversity protection -- these cannot be left for tomorrow," he underscored, highlighting that across all these areas, young people and future generations are demanding action.
"We cannot let them down. This is a definitive moment... The perils we face are no match for a world united... Let's get our world back on track," the UN chief stressed.
The UNGA president, Csaba Korosi, echoed Guterres' words and said that it is timely and more necessary than ever to "re-dedicate ourselves to the SDGs" as the world falls behind.
"The pandemic was a postcard from the future, a bleak future of interlocking global crises. One that we want to avoid and that we can avoid. We must now regain the speed lost to the pandemic and to our inaction. Solutions are at hand," he said.
Korosi added that it is time to "get serious" about saving the world, with all pleasant and unpleasant consequences that this entails, and asked UN member states to deliver on promises made.
Holding a placard of the 17 SDGs at the podium, Prime Minister of Barbados and UN Environment Champion of the Earth, Mia Motley, said that "a world that is driven by a climate crisis cannot provide a sustainable future for us. Are we so arrogant to believe that there will be no failed societies and no extinct species, as history shows us otherwise?"
Motley urged young people to lead a revolution to "change our habits to end plastic pollution and waste," and "hold the leaders' feet to the fire" to make the world a better place to live in.
Amanda Gorman, a poet, activist and supporter of UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), shared one of her inspiring pieces about leaders' accountability and ending poverty.
Meanwhile, SDG advocates and K-pop superstars, the BLACKPINK, appeared in a video message inviting the world to take specific actions to tackle climate change and boost sustainable development.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, UNICEF goodwill ambassador, hosted the event. She reminded the room that time was running out, "as we are nearly halfway to the 2030 deadline" to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
"We all deserve a just, safe, and healthy world to live in. The present and the future is on your hands," she told the General Assembly.
According to the Sustainable Development Goals report 2022, the confluence of crises -- the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the Ukraine crisis are creating "spin-off impacts" on food security, health, education, the environment, peace and security. The combined crises could lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022.
The world also faces a global education crisis with an estimated 147 million children missing more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years. Additionally, women and girls remain disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout of the pandemic, grappling with an increase in unpaid care work and domestic violence.
Countries have taken action to advance the SDGs and tackle the multiple crises by strengthening social protection, developing sustainable policies, and expanding essential services.
According to the report, while countries have taken steps to keep the promise of the SDGs, the severity and scale of the world's challenges call for an urgent and collective response as set out in Our Common Agenda, which was launched by the secretary-general in 2021 and seeks to rescue the SDGs through stronger international cooperation and reinvigorated multilateralism.
The annual SDG Moment aims to provide a snapshot of progress, highlight actions that show change is possible, and advance the transformations needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It was created by the political declaration adopted at the first SDG Summit in 2019, which mandated the UN secretary-general to convene the event as part of every high-level week of the General Assembly from 2020 to 2030.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Tue Sep 20 2022
The world has a long 'to do' list", Guterres told world leaders, asking for more finance and investment from the public and private sectors, to meet growing needs. - REUTERS
Misi teroka peluang ekonomi, tarik pelaburan baharu di WEF - PM
Delegasi Malaysia akan berkongsi dasar dan hala tuju negara di samping mempertegas pendirian negara dalam isu geopolitik serantau di hadapan pemimpin dunia.
JBPM Terengganu berdepan kesukaran padam kebakaran
JBPM Terengganu menghadapi kesukaran memadamkan kebakaran di Kampung Sungai Ikan Kuala Nerus yang melibatkan lebih 75% tapak pelupusan sampah
Polis jangka laporan baharu selepas berkas guru tahfiz
Polis Kelantan menjangkakan lebih banyak laporan polis berkenaan pencabulan di sebuah pusat tahfiz di Machang selepas penahanan seorang guru.
Polis Jerman rampas 4 kereta Bugatti Veyron edisi terhad yang dikaitkan dengan 1MDB
Kenderaan berkenaan dikatakan sebahagian daripada siri "Legenda" khas Bugatti Veyron, dengan hanya 18 daripada supercar tersebut dibina dalam enam spesifikasi.
Gempa kuat 6.5 skala Richter gegar Garut, impak dirasai hingga Jakarta
Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) Indonesia merekodkan gempa berkekuatan 6.5 skala Richter pada malam Sabtu.
EPL: Jika saya bercakap akan berlaku pergaduhan - Salah
Salah sangat tegang dengan Klopp ketika dia bersedia untuk masuk sebagai pemain gantian pada minit ke-79.
Rumah Najib boleh jadi penjara - Peguam
Rumah bekas Perdana Menteri itu boleh dijadikan sebagai penjara dan tempat tahanan untuk beliau seperti yang termaktub dalam undang-undang.
Kopi, kanvas seni Tyler Wong
Kopi ialah kanvas untuk Tyler Wong mempamerkan kemahiran dalam mencipta seni latte yang rumit namun indah.
Mayat tanpa identiti ditemukan terapung di Sungai Linggi
Mayat dipercayai seorang lelaki ditemukan terapung di kawasan Sungai Linggi berhampiran Pusat Dakwah Islamiah Paroi, di sini petang Sabtu.
AWANI Ringkas: Lawatan sempena mesyuarat khas WEF
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Penerimaan resolusi gencatan senjata di Gaza 'kemenangan penting' - PBB
Selepas negara anggota PBB mengundi memihak kepada gencatan senjata segera di Gaza, resolusi itu perlu dilaksanakan.
Peranan China di persada dunia semakin penting - Bekas Canselor Austria
Peranan dan suara China semakin penting dalam membantu mewujudkan dunia "multipolar", menurut bekas Canselor Austria, Wolfgang Schuessel.
Visi komuniti berkongsi nasib termaktub dalam resolusi UNGA
Perkembangan itu sekali gus menyaksikan visi China itu termaktub dalam resolusi berkenaan selama tujuh tahun berturut-turut sejak 2017.
Malaysia hargai 121 negara yang memperjuang nasib Gaza dalam sesi tergempar UNGA
Malaysia menghargai 121 negara yang berani untuk bersuara demi kemanusiaan dan menyokong resolusi Gaza yang ditaja oleh Jordan.
Hamas desak pelaksanaan resolusi UNGA untuk bantu Gaza
Langkah itu akan memboleh bantuan kemanusiaan memasuki Gaza untuk mengelak bencana kemanusiaan.
Malaysia sambut baik resolusi gencatan senjata - Mohd Na'im
Datuk Mohd Na'im Mokhtar berkata keputusan resolusi itu penting berikutan situasi terkini di Gaza yang dilihat semakin kritikal.
Presiden Palestin sambut baik keputusan UNGA terima resolusi mengenai Gaza
Jurucakap Presiden Nabil Abu Rudeineh menyampaikan penghargaan kepada negara-negara yang menyokong resolusi itu.
UNGA terima resolusi untuk gencatan senjata segera, bantuan kemanusiaan di Gaza
Perhimpunan Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (UNGA) pada Jumaat menerima resolusi yang menyeru gencatan senjata segera selain bantuan kemanusian serta perkhidmatan penting sampai ke Semenanjung
Malaysia optimis resolusi pada sesi tergempar UNGA dapat sokongan
Optimisme itu setelah mengambil kira jumlah negara yang hadir pada sesi berkenaan yang diharapkan berakhir dengan keputusan yang baik.
Indonesia lantang kritik PBB, mahu majlis kembalikan sifat 'kemanusiaan'
Majlis Keselamatan itu memiliki tanggungjawab besar menjaga perdamaian dunia, namun masih gagal mencapai keputusan di saat korban meningkat.