UNGA Adopts Declaration to Accelerate SDGs

UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted on Monday a political declaration to accelerate action to achieve the 17 goals, which aim to drive economic prosperity and well-being for all people while protecting the environment.

In his remarks at the opening of a high-level forum at UN Headquarters in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: "Now is the time for a global plan to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are woefully off-track halfway towards their 2030 deadline."

"The SDGs aren’t just a list of goals. They carry the hopes, dreams, rights, and expectations of people everywhere," he noted.

Meanwhile, UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis noted that despite commitments, 1.2 billion people were still living in poverty as of 2022, and roughly eight percent of the global population, or 680 million people, will still be facing hunger by the end of the decade. The international community cannot accept these numbers, he said.

"With concerted, ambitious action, it is still possible that, by 2030, we could lift 124 million additional people out of poverty and ensure that some 113 million fewer people are malnourished," he added.

In 2015, World leaders adopted the SDGs, promising to leave no one behind. The goals include ending extreme poverty and hunger, ensuring access to clean water and sanitation, as well as green energy, and providing quality universal education and lifelong learning opportunities.