High Level Political Forum on the SDGs

Polarization and divisive language could be a major impediment to reaching the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the world needs to prioritize youth education to reach targets by 2030.

That’s from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who also previously served as envoy for the Middle East Quartet, which includes the UN. He sat down with Dan Thomas, who heads up communications for the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, at the recent UN Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

Professor Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana  Executive Secretary of the UN Regional Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), has warned that the vast region of more than four billion people for which she is responsible, is set to miss all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals which underpin the 2030 Agenda.

It’s like a mini UN General Assembly for sustainable development.  Starting this week, nearly 50 countries are voluntarily briefing the world about what they’ve done to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, and looking for ideas on what more they could do. 

A revitalized global partnership to meet the challenges of implementing the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is needed.

That’s the view of the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), addressing the opening of the High Level Political Forum on the SDGs at UN Headquarters.

Matt Wells reports.

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