In September 2022, at the United Nations in New York, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas gave the opening remarks of the SDG Moment, the annual UN event on the Sustainable Development Goals.
A to-do list for the world
She spoke of a critical moment, when "global solidarity is more important than ever". Countries are still struggling with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis is destroying lives and livelihoods, and conflicts, poverty, displacement, hunger and inequality are rising. Our world is not doing well, she said, but these crises did not happen by chance, and they can be solved with a plan. That plan exists: the Sustainable Development Goals, a to-do list for the whole world, drawn up with the people of the world in 2015.
Halfway to 2030
Time is short. The world is almost halfway to the 2030 deadline, and, in the Secretary-General's words, there is no time to waste. The representatives of the countries that signed the goals in 2015 were in the room. She asked them to turn the plan into reality, and called it a day of action, of ambition and of hope.