Sustainable Development Goals Engagement Reaches New Heights at Largest Ever Global Festival of Action
The global community gathered at the opening of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Global Festival of Action in Bonn, Germany, today to reiterate its commitment to accelerate action on the Goals. Organized by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign, the Festival stressed the need for advocacy, citizen engagement, behaviour change and political will, to drive the action required to make the Goals a reality.
Taking place from 2 to 4 May, this year’s event — its largest ever Festival — brings together over 1,500 participants from more than 150 countries, ranging from activists to high-level representatives. It offers a dynamic space where participants can share different perspectives, test and accelerate new ideas, and position the Sustainable Development Goals as the framework for political engagement and democratic participation.
Nearly four years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, progress remains slow and uneven, including on climate change — the greatest challenge of the world of today and tomorrow. “These are turbulent times. Around the world, multilateralism is coming under pressure,” said Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary Secretary of State for Germany, stressing the need for renewed political commitments for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Calling the Festival participants “a force of nature for the 2030 Agenda”, Tania Freiin Von Uslar-Gleichen, the Director for Human Rights at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, highlighted the need for international cooperation and ambitious multilateralism.
The 2019 Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards embodied the spirit of the Festival’s call for action, recognizing innovative and impactful projects in seven categories — mobilizers, storytellers, campaigners, connectors, visualizers, includers and creatives — created by civil society organizations, Governments, foundations, networks and business leaders. Winners included a crowd-map for sexual violence from India; a nationwide campaign that led to the repeal of the infamous rape-marriage law in Lebanon; and a blockchain-based token rewards initiative, called the Plastic Bank, which empowers recycling entrepreneurs in Haiti, Philippines and the United States.
The United Nations climate action campaign, Act Now, was also recognized for the use of artificial intelligence to encourage individuals to take climate action.
Joining other speakers’ call for accelerated efforts by everyone — including individuals, Governments, civil society and businesses, and putting individual action front and centre of the Agenda, Juan Somavia, the former Director-General of the International Labour Organization said: “It is totally impossible for the SDGs to become a reality without the people.”
“We are agents of change, and if we don’t believe that, nothing is going to happen in our lives,” added Gabriela Cuevas Barron, Mexico Congresswoman and the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Inspiring everyone to do their part, Eddie Ndopu, the Special Adviser for Impact and Corporate Sustainability to RTW Investments and soon to be appointed Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, delivered a powerful message on defying the odds.
“Regardless of who you are, where you come from, how you identify, you matter, your humanity matters. This is what it means to leave nobody behind. It means that we need to give way for the most vulnerable segments of society to move from the back of the line to the front so that they can lead,” said Mr. Ndopu, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular dystrophy as a child and became the first African with a degenerative disability to graduate from the University of Oxford. Next year, he is planning to be the first disabled person to travel into space to deliver a televised address to the United Nations on greater Sustainable Development Goals implementation.
About the Awards
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards Ceremony celebrates outstanding achievements and innovative efforts to ignite action on the Goals. The Ceremony recognizes some of the greatest innovators, mobilizers, connectors, storytellers, communicators and visualizers from across the globe. For a full list of finalists, please see: https://bit.ly/2IzoRJ9. Winners will be updated shortly on the Global Festival of Actions website.
Sustainable Development Goals Studio
In addition to the high-level plenary, the live-streamed SDG Studio provided a dynamic stage with TED-style talks, interactive discussions and performances. Speakers included Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Notes to Editors
Follow our social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@SDGAction). Facebook, Twitter (@GlobalGoalsUN) videos from the SDG Studio will also be available on un.org/sdgmediazone.
The official hashtag for the event is #SDGglobalFest.
Videos from the Sustainable Development Goals Studio are available on https://www.un.org/sdgmediazone/videos.shtml.
The plenary sessions are available on webtv.un.org.
Media package, videos and photos available: https://trello.com/b/PXi0v4a2/ sdgglobalfest-2019.
For interviews and inquiries, please contact: Marta Rojas, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign, email: marta.rojas@undp.org, tel.: +49 228 8152 683; Martin Samaan, Department of Global Communications, email: samaanM@un.org, tel.: +1 917 868 0584; or Arne Molfenter, Department of Global Communications, email: molfenter@un.org, tel.: +49 228 815 2773.