UNCTAD urges stronger action to help least developed nations tap into carbon markets
The United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) urged during the 29th United Nations Climate Change ...
Russell: UNICEF needs partners to re-ignite SDGs
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said UNICEF is the global custodian for children in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but it needs partners to step up SDGs efforts.
Addressing the World Government Summit, Russel said “we will need partners like the United Arab Emirates. I look forward to our work together to re-ignite the SDGs — by helping millions of children around the world survive and thrive.”
UNICEF has been fortunate to work in partnership with the United Arab Emirates to drive progress towards achieving the child-focused goals and targets of the SDGs. And while results were uneven, we were still making progress.
“But as we near the halfway mark on the way to 2030, we know that we are losing ground. The compounding force of increased conflicts, climate change crises, and the COVID-19 pandemic have threatened our progress. The world is moving backwards,” she said.
She referred to statements by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres about the need to “rescue the SDGs,” adding “We need to start by putting children’s rights and children’s wellbeing at the center of global, national, and local recovery plans — as part of our larger effort to achieve the SDGs.”
“How can we hope to meet SDG 1 — No Poverty — without addressing the additional 100 million children who have fallen into poverty since 2020? We need to invest in social protection programmes that are the most effective way to help families cover income losses,” she said.
“How can we meet SDG 2 — Zero Hunger — without taking urgent action to reach the additional 9 million children who are at risk of wasting? Nutrition interventions are among the most effective and cost-effective investments we can make in children’s development — and in sustainable growth,” she said.
As for SDG 3 on Health and Wellbeing, an additional 23 million children in 2020 alone didn’t receive essential vaccinations because of pandemic-related disruptions. “We need to build a global movement for vaccine affordability, availability, and equity — as a contribution to strengthening primary health care,” she underlined.
“And we need to address the mental health crisis that is affecting so many millions of children, adolescents, and young people,” she said.
Concerning SDG 4 on Universal Quality Education, “the pandemic has exacerbated what was already a serious global learning crisis, especially for children who were already being left behind. How can we meet SDG 4 without focusing on children in low-income countries, as many as 70 percent of whom cannot read a simple sentence by age 10?”
“It is not enough to reopen schools. We need to make sure that every child is back in the classroom and learning — and we need to invest in teachers.”
“How can we achieve SDG 5 — Gender Equality — when the pandemic has forced millions of women out of employment, contributing to decreased family income and increased child poverty? And we estimate that an additional 10 million girls are at risk for child marriage. ”
“We cannot meet SDG 5 without investing in girls’ health, education, protection, and empowerment,” she added, noting that “And how can we possibly achieve SDG 6 — Clean Water and Sanitation — when so many millions of children around the world lack access to safe water and improved sanitation?”
“The simple answer to all of these questions is that we can’t achieve any of these goals — the majority of the SDGs — without making progress for children,” she highlighted.
“We are directly responsible for 7 SDG goals and indicators, and we either support or are co-custodian for a further 12. Our new Strategic Plan is a blueprint to accelerate progress towards achieving all of them.”
“The Strategic Plan is structured around five goals to ensure that by 2030, every child survives and thrives … every child learns and acquires skills for the future … every child is protected from violence, abuse, and harmful practices … every child has access to water, sanitation, and hygiene and lives in a safe environment … and every child lives free of poverty.”
These are ambitious goals. They are transformative goals. To achieve them, we will need to work more efficiently and effectively than ever before. We will need bold thinking and bold action – finding new ways to solve persistent problems.
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