Priyanka Chopra Jonas opening remarks at SDG moment | Sustainable Development Goals | United Nations
Opening remarks by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Goodwill Ambassador, UNICEF on the SDG moment.
The actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas also hihghlited the importance of this moment, saying that “global solidarity is more important than ever.”
According to the actress, the “devastating effects” of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, conflicts, poverty, displacement, hunger and inequalities threaten to “destroy the very foundation of the more just world that we have fought for for such a long time.”
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The SDG Moment serves to place an annual spotlight on the Sustainable Development Goals. It takes place as the world faces a deepening cost-of-living crisis that carries huge implications for the advancement of the SDGs, especially in developing countries.
This event sets the scene and leads into the Transforming Education Summit, featuring the SDG “To-Do List” for the world presented by the Secretary-General’s SDG Advocates Co-Chairs, a stocktaking moment and SDG Dialogues focused on solutions for inequalities and climate and environmental challenges.
Convened by the UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres, the Moment provides world leaders with a platform to showcase the bold actions and solutions that are needed to set the world on course towards achieving the SDGs. The SDG Moment event is expected to build the momentum as we head towards the SDG Summit in 2023.
What: The annual SDG Moment kicks off UN High-Level Week (20-23 September) as world leaders gather at the UN Headquarters in New York to highlight transformative solutions for tackling the multiple crises that have unleashed vicious cycles of poverty, hunger and inequalities worldwide. In these challenging times, the SDG Moment will seek to urgently scale up ambition and solidarity to advance the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals – the World’s To Do List as the best pathway for a safer, healthier and more inclusive future.
Why: The combined crises—the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising food insecurity and a debilitating economy—could lead to an additional 75 to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022. As called for in the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda, a renewed commitment to international cooperation and global solidarity is needed to set the SDGs back on track. With time running out as we approach the midpoint in 2023 of SDG implementation, this year’s SDG Moment is a major turning point for accelerating meaningful SDG action.
The SDG Moment, a 90-minute event, will be held in person in the UN General Assembly Hall. The event, to be convened by the Secretary-General, will have present Heads of State and Government, including SDG Advocate Co-Chairs Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada (video message). High-profile special guests SDG Advocates K-pop band BLACKPINK (video message), Actor, Producer, Author, Activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Nomzamo Mbatha, Poet, Activist and UNICEF supporter Amanda Gorman and Singer-Songwriter Judith Hill will also participate. In addition to the immersive projections in the UN General Assembly Hall that will stress the SDGs as our To-Do List for a better future for all, there will be SDG Dialogues on Solutions to Inequalities and Climate solutions as well as musical performances, a poem recital and an SDG call to action.
About the SDG Moment
General Assembly resolution 74/4 calls on the Secretary-General to organize an annual moment in the context of the General Debate of the General Assembly to highlight inspiring SDG action. The SDG Moment, convened for the first time in 2020, serves as a check-in on the status of the SDGs.
More information is available: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-moment
https://youtu.be/fBDmWiB8rfY