UN Economic and Social Council pledges to accelerate implementation of 2030 Agenda

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today concluded the high-level segment of its annual session by adopting a ministerial Declaration aimed at accelerating the pace of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“The challenges faced by the global institutional system today require a new assessment of how the promise of sustainable and equitable growth can be turned into a reality for all people around the globe,” said ECOSOC President Frederick Shava in his closing remarks.

“There is growing consensus that the interconnected and global nature of challenges in all dimensions of sustainable development – the economic, social and environmental – cannot be solved by one nation alone,” he added.

The ministerial Declaration highlighted the need to accelerate the pace of implementing the 2030 Agenda and recognized that fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) required bolstered partnerships and urgent action.

The High-Level Segment included the ministerial meeting of the high-level political forum on sustainable development, in which 44 countries presented their voluntary national reviews, including the sharing of experiences, successes, challenges and lessons learned, in order to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

In his closing remarks, Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, stressed that eradicating poverty remains the greatest global challenge and is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.