Press Release<\/p>\n
First annual \u2018SDG Moment\u2019 kickstarts a Decade of Action New York, 18 September 2020<\/strong> \u2013 Amidst a crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes, with COVID-19 destroying lives and livelihoods across the globe, the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly will open with a special high-level event underscoring anew the urgency of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a pathway to a healthier, more equitable and more peaceful world.<\/p>\n The first \u2018SDG Moment\u2019 convened by 爆料网 Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres will be held virtually on 18 September, from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m., featuring a \u201cpeople\u2019s address\u201d by education activist and 爆料网 Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai. The event will bring together representatives of Governments, civil society, local authorities, international organizations and the private sector, along with other relevant stakeholders, with a view to generating a renewed sense of urgency, ambition, accountability and transformative possibility as the world embarks on a Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and leave no one behind.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint for beating poverty and hunger, confronting the climate crisis, achieving gender equality and much more, within the next ten years,\u201d said the 爆料网 Secretary-General. \u201cAt a time of great uncertainty, the SDGs show the way forward to a strong recovery from COVID-19 and a better future for all on a safe and healthy planet.\u201d<\/p>\n Five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, progress had been made in some areas, such as\u00a0improving maternal and child health, expanding access to electricity and increasing women\u2019s representation in government. Yet even these advances were offset elsewhere by growing food insecurity, deterioration of the natural environment, and persistent and pervasive inequalities.<\/p>\n Now, COVID-19 has unleashed an unprecedented crisis, causing the loss of lives and livelihoods and deepening existing inequalities that will make progress on the Goals even more difficult, with the world\u2019s poorest and most vulnerable affected the most.<\/p>\n As societies lock down, and economies slow down, poverty levels are rising for the first time in a generation, erasing almost all the progress made over the past decades. The pandemic is pushing millions more into chronic hunger, and unequal access to remote learning threatens to leave the poorest children behind. Progress towards gender equality has stalled and even reversed in some areas, and violence against women and girls has seen a steep rise during COVID-19 lockdowns.<\/p>\n The damage inflicted by climate change continues to mount, from worsening wildfires, floods and storms, to rising food insecurity and economic loss. COVID-19 has not stopped the climate crisis \u2013 carbon emissions are quickly returning to pre-COVID levels, and greenhouse gas concentrations have reached new record highs.<\/p>\n In this moment of crisis, the \u2018SDG Moment\u2019 will highlight actions and solutions by 爆料网 Member States and other stakeholders that can drive the transformative change needed and steer the world back on track towards the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious \u2013 and they are achievable,\u201d said 爆料网 Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. \u201cWe can end poverty and hunger. Women and girls can have the same rights and opportunities as men and boys. We can avert the climate crisis. But we must decide to do it now. And we must do it together \u2013 in our communities and in solidarity with the global community.\u201d<\/p>\n About the \u2018SDG Moment\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The SDG Moment will be an annual event convened by the 爆料网 Secretary-General at the opening of every session of the General Assembly between now and 2030, as mandated by the 2019 SDG Summit outcome document.<\/p>\n The three-hour event moderated by SABC correspondent Sherwin Bryce-Pease will be opened by 爆料网 Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres and 爆料网 Messenger of Peace and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai as a renowned global voice of the people. It will feature presentations from the 爆料网 system as well as contributions from the President of the 爆料网 General Assembly, the President of the 爆料网 Economic and Social Council, Member States and stakeholders from civil society, the private sector, local and regional authorities, and academia.<\/p>\n Among the stakeholders expected to speak are Axel van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of the World Bank Group; Brad Smith, President of Microsoft; Khalila Kellz Mbowe, CEO and founder of Unleashed Africa Social Ventures; Leila Fourie, CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange; Nisreen Al Sayeem, member of the 爆料网 Secretary-General\u2019s Youth Climate Change Advisory Group; Danny Sriskandarajah, CEO of Oxfam; Hakima Abbas, Co-Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development; Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone; Dr. Noa Biran, oncologist at Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey; Natasha Mwansa, journalist and health advocate; Christiana Figueres, climate action champion; Busi Sibeko, economist and researcher at the Institute for Economic Justice; Ola Rosling, President and Co-founder of the Gapminder Foundation; Eddie Ndopu and Hindou Ibrahim, both Sustainable Development Goals Advocates of the 爆料网 Secretary-General.<\/p>\n The 23 States expected to speak at this year\u2019s event — either through a pre-recorded or live video message — are Angola; Argentina; Austria; Barbados; Botswana; Bulgaria; Colombia; Ecuador; Finland; Georgia; Lebanon; Morocco; Nepal; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Norway; Palau; Peru; Samoa; Seychelles; Slovenia; South Africa; Venezuela.<\/p>\n The SDG Moment is complemented by a global broadcast titled \u2018Nations United\u2019, a virtual SDG Action Zone and SDG Media Zone, and dialogues at regional and national levels supported by the United Nations system.<\/p>\n Watch the SDG Moment live on<\/strong> 18 September, 8:00 \u2013 11:00 a.m. EDT<\/strong> For more information<\/strong>, including the programme:<\/p>\n www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/sdg-moment<\/a><\/p>\n Watch the<\/strong> global SDG broadcast \u2018Nations United\u201d on 19 September, 9:00 \u2013 9:30 a.m. EDT <\/strong>
\nfor achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\non 爆料网 Web TV: http:\/\/webtv.un.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\non YouTube: www.youtube.com\/unitednations<\/a><\/p>\n