Fighting Discrimination, Ending Inequalities at ‘Heart’ of New 2030 Agenda, Secretary-General Tells ‘Fairer Future for All’ Event
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Susana Malcorra, Chef de Cabinet, to the event “A Fairer Future for All: Fighting Inequalities and Discrimination at the Heart of the 2030 Agenda”, in New York today:
I am pleased to send greetings to all participants here today to show your support for fighting discrimination and ending inequalities. I thank the Governments of Finland, Mexico and South Africa, with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UN-Women, for organizing this important event.
World leaders have just adopted a transformative agenda for sustainable development to leave no one behind and create a life of dignity for all. At its heart is the fight against inequalities and discrimination of all kinds.
The new Agenda is anchored in the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties, including the Declaration on the Right to Development. This is our best path to combat the pernicious discrimination and inequalities that cause so much suffering in our world, from gender-based violence to racial injustice to gross and destabilizing disparities in income among individuals and countries.
The 2030 Agenda has priorities that address all of these challenges. There is a dedicated Goal on gender equality, as well as a dedicated Goal to reduce inequalities within and between countries.
At the same time, this is a comprehensive, integrated vision. Every SDG [Sustainable Development Goal] aims at promoting universal access and equality for all, and every SDG includes “means of implementation” targets that redress the global inequalities among countries.
We are just out of the starting gate in our 15-year race to a better future. Let us advance with passion and conviction, resolved to create a more just and fair world. When we do, we will also generate lasting peace and sustainable prosperity.