Our UN teams are on the ground, working with governments and key stakeholders to bolster countries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, helping ensure a smooth recovery. They tackle a range of multi-faceted priorities and key initiatives on a daily basis—from climate action to gender equality and food security—and utilize innovative approaches to problem-solving to better serve communities. Below are some highlights of their work this month.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina Mohammed has called on UN Resident Coordinators in Europe and Central Asia to help ensure the region does not lose momentum as its 18 countries and territories strive to meet the ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “The 2030 Agenda remains our blueprint for action. Rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals in the Decade of Action across the region is, and will remain, the absolute priority for our work,” Ms. Mohammed told the Resident Coordinators gathered in Geneva for a meeting back to back with the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development.
Turkmenistan was the first country in the Europe and Central Asia region to adopt national Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. The UN Country Team acted swiftly to respond to the call of the UN chief and offered comprehensive and well-coordinated support to Turkmenistan in scaling up climate action and in supporting the country’s initiatives on ensuring environmental sustainability.
The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General on Monday called on countries in Asia and the Pacific to speed up the shift from fossil fuels to new, low-carbon development models, in a just and inclusive way.
With devastating effects on the Ukrainian people, infrastructure and economy, the war in Ukraine will also potentially have far-reaching impacts on sustainable development globally. This was a key message today at a high-level conference on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, noting dire impacts already being felt globally.
“With each passing hour, two things are increasingly clear: first — it keeps getting worse. Second — whatever the outcome, this war will have no winners, only losers”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, warning that a resulting meltdown of the global economy is provoking a "hurricane of hunger", as he addressed reporters outside the Security Council chamber in New York.
With less than a decade left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment, the commitment is yet to translate into action on the ground. The Eighth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, which was held in Kigali, Republic of Rwanda, from 3 to 5 March 2022, offered Africa a unique opportunity to engage all stakeholders on accelerating actions towards achieving SDG 5 by 2030.
“The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean require transitions in energy, digital connectivity, and food systems. More effective spending and investment in human capital is needed to unlock and accelerate progress on the SDGs,” said Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General at the Forum of countries of Latin American and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development held on March 7-9, 2022.
