With the bang of a gavel on Friday international leaders approved an ambitious 15-year plan to tackle the world’s biggest problems, from eradicating poverty to preserving the planet to reducing inequality. Now comes the tough part: Drumming up support and money to achieve the goals and transform the world.
Pope Francis gave his backing to the new development agenda in an address to the UN General Assembly before the summit to adopt the 17-point plan opened, calling it “an important sign of hope” at a very troubled time in the Middle East and Africa.
When Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen struck his gavel to approve the development road map, leaders and diplomats from the 193 UN member states stood and applauded loudly.
Photo: Reuters
Then the summit immediately turned to the real business of the three-day meeting — implementation of the goals, which is expected to cost US$3.5 trillion to US$5 trillion every year until 2030.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set the stage, saying the agenda “embodies the aspirations of people everywhere for lives of peace, security and dignity on a healthy planet.”
The goals “are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success,” Ban said.
The document, titled Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, not only outlines 17 broad goals, but sets 169 specific targets.
The non-binding goals succeed the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by world leaders 15 years ago. Only one of those has been achieved: halving the number of people living in extreme poverty, due primarily to economic growth in China.
At least one other is close — cutting in half the proportion of people without access to clean water — and there are still three months until the goals expire.
The new goals include ensuring “healthy lives” and quality education for all, clean water, sanitation and reliable modern energy, as well as making cities safe, reducing inequality within and among countries, and promoting economic growth and good governance.
Critics say they are too broad, lack accountability and will lead to disenchantment among those most in need of hope. Supporters say there is no choice but to go big in a world of expanding population, growing inequality, dwindling resources and the existential threat from global warming.
They said that while the millennium goals were developed by then-UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and his staff, the new goals are the result of years of negotiations by all 193 members, which means they should all have a stake in their achievement.
Sweden said that a group of nine leaders from different regions will work to ensure implementation of the goals. It includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Liberia, South Africa, Tanzania and Tunisia and the prime ministers of Sweden and East Timor.
Speaker after speaker pointed to the spread of extremist groups as barriers to development, perhaps none more eloquently than Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012 for campaigning for girls’ education.
Standing in the assembly chamber’s balcony surrounded by 193 young people representing every country, she told the leaders: “The future generation is raising their voice.”
Each teen held a lantern, which she said symbolized their hope that the new global goals will be achieved.
Millions of children are suffering from “terrorism, displacement and denial of education,” Yousufzai said, citing the heartbreaking photograph of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi lying drowned on a Turkish sea shore and the tearful parents of teenage girls abducted from their school in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram.
“Promise peace to all children in Pakistan, in India, in Syria and in every corner of the world. Promise that every child will have the right to safe, free and quality primary and secondary education,” Yousufzai said. “Education is hope. Education is peace.”
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said the international community has to deal with global challenges that hinder development — “especially terrorism” which isn’t confined to Arab nations but has spread worldwide.
The head of Amnesty International used his speech to make an impassioned critique of mass surveillance, the arms trade, income inequality and human rights abuses.
“You cannot launch these goals and in parallel deny a safe and legal route to refugees, a life with dignity,” Amnesty’s Salil Shetty added.
The presidents of China and Iran were among the world leaders scheduled to address the UN summit yesterday, while US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France are to address the meeting today.
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