UN Launches Campaign, Calling for Renewed Global Ambition, Action for SDGs

The United Nations launched on Thursday a communications campaign to rally for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the roadmap for people and the planet adopted by world leaders in 2015.

Ahead of a critical UN Summit in September, the campaign aims to amplify an urgent call for ambitious new action, showcase the Goals as the blueprint for sustainable progress globally, and galvanize the global public around this shared agenda for our common future.

At halftime toward the deadline of 2030, the promise of the SDGs is in peril. For the first time in decades, development progress is reversing under the combined impacts of climate disasters, conflict, economic downturn, and lingering COVID-19 effects.

The 2023 SDG Summit will gather world leaders at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 18-19 September to reaffirm their collective commitments to the Goals and the promise to leave no one behind. This Summit is a defining moment to urgently put the world back on track to achieving the SDGs.

According to the UN, the new campaign aims to re-energize the conversation about the Goals.

“For the first time in decades, development progress around the world is reversing under the combined impacts of climate disasters, conflict, economic downturn, and lingering COVID-19 effects. Egypt has been a front-runner in implementing the SDGs and its progress on Sustainable Development is being noted globally. However, the country still faces challenges in achieving the SDGs,” Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, said.

“The UN in Egypt reaffirms its commitment to support the people and government of Egypt in their endeavor to chart a path to a more prosperous and sustainable future that leaves no one behind. The SDG Summit in September represents a defining moment to mobilize our collective efforts to deliver on the 2030 promise. We need to Act Now.”

Building off the color wheel brand of the SDGs, the campaign uses a dynamic new visual system for its messaging to build momentum, raise awareness and mobilize accelerated action for the SDGs.

One core campaign component is the call to individual citizens to take action on the SDGs through the UN’s ActNow initiative across all 17 Goals. From using public transportation, to fundraising for schools or speaking up for equality, the platform lists steps that everyone can take to accelerate progress on the SDGs and create better lives on a healthier planet for all.

A curated group of high-profile influencers, the Circle of Supporters, will galvanize their communities to take individual action on the SDGs and to impress upon decision-makers the urgency to act now.