Sustainable Development Goals Need to Be Rescued Now, Secretary-General Stresses, Urging Action Zone ‘Make Your Voices Heard’

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] Action Zone, in New York today:

Welcome everyone to the SDG Action Zone.  This is the place for people to come together and discuss and demand solutions to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs are our road map to a better world.  But, as we reach the halfway point to the 2030 deadline, the Goals are in trouble.  Progress has stalled — and in some cases, even reversed.

We need to rescue the SDGs, now.  We need to move from rhetoric to reality and transform words into action and investment across all of the Goals:  from education and health care to eradicating poverty and fighting inequality in every country, to climate action, to full equality for women and girls, to building peace.

This year’s Action Zone shines a spotlight on the activists, champions and allies of sustainable development from around the world.  This platform belongs to you.  Because we all deserve a say in the future.  And we all have a responsibility — online, in the streets and in our neighbourhoods and countries — to make our voices heard as we build a better future for all.

Silence is not an option.  That’s what the SDG Action Zone is all about.  Making your voices heard.  Making your actions count.  And demanding action from world leaders.  The countdown to 2030 is on.  Let’s get it done.