Make World Healthier, More Prosperous for All, Secretary-General Says at Sustainable Development Goals Branding Ceremony

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to inaugurate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) branding at the Vienna International Centre, in Vienna today:

Es freut mich sehr, hier in Wien und in der UNO-City zu sein.  [I am very pleased to be here in Vienna and in the UN City.]  Thank you for your warm welcome.

This is my last visit to Austria as Secretary-General, and my very last visit to a Member State, so this is my final official travel to any country as Secretary-General.  One of the highlights of my tenure is the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 17 interdependent Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint for peace, prosperity, dignity and opportunity for all people on a healthy planet.  The Goals are relevant to all nations and they provide an overarching guide for the United Nations family.  The common cause they represent is now prominently featured throughout the Vienna International Centre.

I commend the Government of Austria for embracing the SDGs and I thank the City of Vienna for its generous support for this branding exercise.  I will be seeing Mayor [Michael] Häupl later today and I will thank him personally.

Some 600,000 people pass through this Centre every year.  They include conference participants and some 60,000 visitors on guided tours.  Now, every visit will begin with a view of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In the coming weeks, the United Nations family in Vienna will also launch a common web portal, showing how each organization is contributing to the Goals.  We have an unprecedented opportunity to transform our world.

On behalf of the United Nations family in Vienna, I would like to express my deep appreciation for our host city and host country Austria.  I hope the icons being inaugurated today will provide inspiration to all of us to continue working hand in hand for the future we want.

Let us work together to make this world better for all:  more prosperous, more peaceful and healthier for all humanity, including our succeeding generations to come.