UN Calls for Stronger Action on SDGs

(MENAFN) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for stronger action to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during his address at the SDG Moment event on Monday at UN headquarters. The event, part of the High-Level Week marking the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), highlighted the critical steps needed to achieve the SDGs.

Guterres outlined key priorities for global progress, including reforms to the global financial system, prioritizing climate action, and preparing for the technological transformations ahead. "In all we do, we must make peace a priority," he stressed, pointing out that global military spending in 2024 is expected to be 13 times the amount of official development assistance.

As the 2030 deadline approaches, UNGA President Annalena Baerbock painted a bleak picture of the current state of the SDGs. "With five years to go until 2030, only 35 percent of the SDGs are on track, 47 percent are seeing insufficient progress, and 18 percent have gone into reverse," she noted.

Baerbock also highlighted the worsening financial situation: "The financial picture is equally stark. At a moment of rising need, net official development assistance fell by 7.1 percent last year."

She emphasized the urgent need for reform, stating, "We are not moving as fast as we should on the foundational promise of the Sustainable Development Goals."

For development to be both fair and sustainable, Baerbock added, "it will only be fair and sustainable if it makes space for voices too often ignored and if we combine our efforts and show solidarity with each other."

The SDGs, established by the United Nations in 2015, remain a core element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at eradicating poverty, promoting equality, addressing climate change, and achieving numerous other global objectives by the year 2030.

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