As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary in 2025, this report by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) traces the evolution of sustainable development within the UN system. It highlights the organization’s role in shaping both the understanding and the practical application of sustainable development. 

The UN DESA Annual Highlights report is a tool to communicate the contributions of the Department to the realization of internationally agreed development goals and shared social, economic, and environmental aspirations. It showcases the Department’s role in gauging trends, building capacities, and shaping solutions. UN DESA Highlights 2025 covers activities over the period of the 79th Session of the General Assembly (September 2024 – August 2025) and reflects the Department’s response to the set priorities and expressed needs of Member States. Seven (7) thematic chapters showcase how UN DESA put its expertise to the task of supporting Member State efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda…

Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2025 is the latest edition in an annual series produced by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Covering all 17 Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the report spotlights the latest data and evidence on gender equality, tracking trends and revealing progress and gaps.

The 2025 Gender Snapshot sounds the alarm: If current trends continue, the world will reach 2030 with 351 million women and girls still living in extreme poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 5 to achieve gender equality and…