Migration often brings with it many risks for communities, such as sexual harassment, crime, and human smuggling given how porous borders are. With ITC's support, Ndey Fatou stepped away from the dangers of unsafe migration towards a thriving local enterprise.
Wage losses, job insecurity, and a rising cost of living crisis have been a common thread in the past few years, across the world, directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, decent jobs that deliver a fair, secure income for all are critical to tackling inequality and poverty. Social protection systems help vulnerable people find such jobs and improve their ability to cope with crises through increased access to education, health, and other social security nets, helping absorb the impacts of shocks without major social or economic setbacks.
Jena participated in an entrepreneurship trainings project carried out by UN Women, UNICEF and UNFPA in Sri Lanka that has helped over 90 women entrepreneurs to become economically independent and thus less vulnerable to violence.
The world needs to focus on the transformative entry points that can have catalytic impact for achieving the Goals: food systems; energy access and affordability; digital connectivity; education; jobs and social protection; and climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. This action has already begun. At the country level, Resident Coordinators and UN country teams have been on the ground working with host Governments to boost SDG progress and engagement in the areas it matters the most.
Current projections show that by 2030, nearly 660 million people will continue to live without electricity and 1.9 billion without clean cooking fuels. The world needs a transformed global energy system, that prioritizes access and affordability. We can get there with the right energy access policies and regulations, focusing on the needs of vulnerable communities.
Eight years ago, Member States gathered in this Hall to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals. A promise to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all. A promise to leave no one behind. And a promise to pay for it. It was — always — a promise to people.
The participation of women in politics is a priority for the United Nations and should be so for society as a whole. For the first time in its history, Costa Rica, in an effort to acknowledge it, will be holding gender-balanced elections in 2024, thereby ensuring an unprecedented space for women's political participation in the country. However, this significant achievement faces a massive and growing challenge: hate speech, discrimination, and digital violence against women.
From the food we eat, water we drink and energy we consume, biodiversity and nature fuel so many parts of life on earth. With only seven years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, investing in key transition areas, such as biodiversity and climate change adaptation and mitigation, can be a game-changer to advance the SDGs and protect our only planet.
In a world grappling with increasingly complex crises ranging from poverty and inequality to the climate emergency, the United Nations remains at the forefront of the global response, determined to set humanity on a path to peace and prosperity, Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
