The United Nations, today, is kicking off a communications campaign to rally for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the roadmap for people and 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 stimulate the global public around this shared agenda for our common future.
At the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, For the first time in decades the world has seen development progress stalled and even reversed under the combined weight of climate disasters, conflict, economic downturn. The world’s poorest countries and most vulnerable people are once again bearing the results of this situation. It is critical to Leave No One Behind. On its current course, many Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) may miss its target by 2030, resulting in the need to accelerate collective efforts towards achieving these goals.
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.
Starting today, in a major digital activation across platforms and countries worldwide, the UN campaign aims to re-energize the conversation about the Goals.
Mr. Moises Venancio, United Nations Resident Coordinator ai in Kuwait said ”The United Nations in Kuwait is playing a key role by supporting the government to align their plans, enhancing their role, and building national capacities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)”.
From his side, The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development Dr Khaled Mahdi stated that the State of Kuwait is based on a solid history of development and maintaining sustainability at the core of its policies and strategies. Eight years ago, i.e., at the beginning of the SDGs, the government took a comprehensive decision to integrate all 17 SDG goals and 169 targets within the country’s long-term vision, which was approved one year before the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Indeed, Vision 2035 – New Kuwait consists of wide-ranging pillars, which are fully endorsed and structurally integrated with the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, as well as their indicators.
Since then, the government has been leading unremitting efforts in the framework of awareness-raising, implementation, and coordination at the national level of values related to the transformational approach and additional benefits of the 2030 Agenda, focusing on its triple areas of social, economic, and environmental sustainability, as well as the ultimate ambition of leaving no one behind.
Among the mechanisms that have been adopted internationally to measure the efforts of countries in this regard is to review the progress made by countries by reviewing voluntary reports at the national level from each country during a meeting (the United Nations High-level Political Forum for Sustainable Development), which is held annually in this regard.
In this context, the State of Kuwait submitted its first voluntary national report (VNR1) on the sustainable development goals to the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2019, with the participation of several governmental and private agencies and civil society organizations, and the report was highly welcomed at that time.
The State of Kuwait now intends to submit its second voluntary national report (VNR2) to the High-Level Political Forum in July 2023, with the aim of documenting the progress made in implementation in various relevant sectors in the country, checking for shortcomings and persistent challenges, and identifying strategies and approaches that require further attention at all levels of Governance and renew commitment to review it.
The Resident Coordinator ai Mr. Moises added: “All SDGs are everybody’s campaign, and we would like to take this opportunity to call on the private sector, academia, CSOs, NGOs, and citizens to contribute in achieving the Global SDGs Agenda.”
In this year that marks the 60th anniversary of Kuwait joining the United Nations, the United Nations Country Team in Kuwait would like to express their appreciation and recognition for the Government’s role and contributions towards achieving agenda 2030 and the SDGs. Both in Kuwait and globally.
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.
More information on the SDG Summit is available at: https://www.un.org/en/conferences/SDGSummit2023