Action, agility and accountability will help us deliver on the global goals

By Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of UN DESA

I joined UN DESA in September 2022, and what a whirlwind four months it has been.

I am keenly aware that my term started at a time when a confluence of global crises has set us back in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

I embarked on a “listening tour” and met with delegations, ministers, regional representatives and various stakeholders to discuss the many challenges their countries and communities are facing and the roadblocks to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. I am quite optimistic that, together, we can still accomplish our objectives.

Where is this hope coming from? At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27), I witnessed the world come together to share solutions to one of the most pressing issues of our time – the climate crisis. The creation of a “Loss and Damage” Fund is a first step in acknowledging and helping vulnerable populations who suffer the most due to climate change.

At the G20 Summit under the Indonesia Presidency, leaders committed to taking collective actions to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and addressing developmental challenges by reinvigorating a more inclusive multilateralism. I expect this commitment to continue with the India Presidency and beyond.

Preparations for the UN 2023 Water Conference in March are underway. UN DESA, along with UN-Water and the Governments of the Netherlands and Tajikistan, are working tirelessly to deliver a conference that will drive concrete outcomes and commitments for #WaterAction.

Global actors will gather for the annual High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in July. As this is my first HLPF as USG of UN DESA, I am particularly looking forward to the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), where developing and least developed countries present the progress and pitfalls in their national implementation of the SDGs. Listening and learning from these countries’ experiences in dealing with the multiple crises that have inundated us the past three years will give all of us a better idea of how to move forward.

The HLPF will also serve as a launching pad for the SDG Summit in September, considered the mid-point review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs. My sense of optimism is coupled with a sense of urgency. Not only do we need to regain lost ground, but we must also take bigger steps – more transformative action – to realize the Goals.

UN DESA is ready to support the General Assembly in its preparations for the SDG Summit where Member States are expected to adopt a negotiated political declaration. Governments, the private sector, civil society and various multi-stakeholders must work in solidarity to mobilize investments and push for actionable recommendations and impactful policies to achieve the SDGs.

Looking further ahead to 2024, we will hold the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (a ten-year follow-up to the Samoa Pathway in 2014) and the Summit of the Future, which will explore inclusive, innovative and multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow.

Here in UN DESA  ̶  the home of the SDGs in the UN system  ̶  our work will be guided by action, agility and accountability. Through our analytical and capacity-building work– backed by our data science – we will continue to support UN country teams, least developed countries and countries in special situations by providing sound advice on social, economic and sustainable development issues and policy.

And we will continue to serve and support Member States in the General Assembly and ECOSOC in the intergovernmental process and help deliver their mandates.

But we cannot make the needed impact if we work alone.

Let us all come together, in the spirit of cooperation, collaboration and camaraderie, and work towards a world that is sustainable, inclusive and resilient, for current and future generations.

We have a lot to do. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work!