Speakers Call for Culture of Collaboration, Renewed Solidarity to Achieve Sustainable Development, as Economic and Social Council Begins Coordination Segment
The United Nations must celebrate its many successes as much as it acknowledges its failures, the Economic and Social Council heard today as speakers at its 2025 Coordination Segment called for a culture of collaboration and renewed solidarity.
This year, the two-day Segment, which includes panel discussions and interactive dialogues, will focus on the theme of “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind.”
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent the “common sense of humanity”, and people around the world care about them, Bob Rae (Canada), President of the 54-member Council, said in his opening remarks. Stressing the need to build on previous successes, he hailed the many partnerships between Member States and various multilateral institutions, such as the Spotlight Initiative, which has protected over 21 million girls and women from gender-based violence; the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, which engages over 130 stakeholders to tackle abandoned fishing gear to reduce marine pollution; and the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States initiative, which aims to strengthen resilience against climate and disaster risks.
The people who created the Organization were living with war, depression, tariff wars, economic protectionism and poverty, he added. The vision of the United Nations was not only political but also economic and social. Commitment to a multilateral organization like the UN — whose budget in 2024 was $75 billion — does not take away a State’s freedom; rather, it broadens the sovereignty of each country, he stressed.
“The stakes could not be higher,” said Guy Ryder, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Policy, who noted that only 17 per cent of the Goals are on course, while many critical targets are regressing. Meanwhile, conflicts are intensifying, inequalities are widening, the climate crisis is escalating, and unregulated technology continues to disrupt societies. The international community must unlock the scale and quality of financing needed to drive investments, alleviate the debt burden that stifles many countries, and protect economies from the external shocks, he stressed. The Pact for the Future provides a blueprint for this, he said, adding that reform of the international financial architecture is crucial to fulfil the promise of the SDGs.
Also addressing the Segment was Anatolio Ndong Mba (Equatorial Guinea), Council Vice-President, who said: “The United Nations cannot do more than what we allow it to do.” Progress on the SDGs has stagnated, or even reversed course, with only 17 per cent of assessed targets on track for achievement by 2030. “We cannot afford to let this trend continue,” he said, calling on the international community to “bridge divides, mobilize resources and implement transformative solutions”. Highlighting the role of the Economic and Social Council and its many subsidiary bodies, he noted that the Segment has the valuable role of leveraging their insights.
Conversation with Regional Commissions, Functional Commissions and Expert Bodies
Following opening remarks, the Council held a conversation with the Executive Secretaries of the regional commissions and Chairs of functional commissions and expert bodies, which focused on “Accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, including by leveraging the outcomes of the Summit of the Future”.
Panel Discussion: Exploring Transformative Solutions to Foster Sustainability and Build an Inclusive and Prosperous Future for All
It then held two panel discussions. The first, which was moderated by Navid Hanif, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, focused on “Exploring transformative solutions to foster sustainability and build an inclusive and prosperous future for all”.
It began with a fireside chat featuring Ligia Noronha, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s New York Office, and Maximo Torero, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Chief Economist.
Ms. NORONHA highlighted the trade-off involved in clean energy transitions, noting the increasing quantity of minerals needed for this. Mining has an impact on environment and indigenous communities, she pointed out, stressing the need to redress this injustice and build equitable partnerships with local communities.
Mr. TORERO cautioned against increasing food productivity without considering biodiversity or carbon emissions, adding that a certain level of financing is vital to ensure that agrifood systems become part of a just transition process. He stressed the need for a “blue transformation” which can meet the challenge of ensuring food security and protecting biodiversity at the same time.
The panel began with Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Founder of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, Expert in Indigenous Peoples’ traditional ecological knowledge and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues’s twenty-third session, who said that Indigenous people are proof that it is possible to live in harmony with nature. But less than 1 per cent of climate and biodiversity finance comes to Indigenous communities, she pointed out. Noting that she comes from a community of nomadic pastoralists in Chad, she said her grandmother can observe bird migration and predict weather and offer the best climate adaptations — such knowledge needs to be at the front and centre of a just transition. “Are you ready to trust us, to give us what we are asking for?” she asked
Next, Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), pointed to the inadequacy of measuring development as a function of wealth, using per capita income or gross domestic product (GDP). Stressing the need for more holistic metrics, he said the classic human development index must be charted against a planetary health index. As the international community is shifting from one energy base to the other, it must use Indigenous people’s traditional knowledge while also leveraging the most modern forms of technology.
Eduard Matoko, Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Affairs of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said his Agency has been advocating for culture and heritage as an important facet of the global development agenda. It has accumulated data on how to balance traditional knowledge with modern knowhow, he said, adding that contemporary profit-oriented economies need to integrate this balance. Funding is important but so is a mindset shift, he added, stressing that public policies have to set the example.
Finally, Pablo Fernández Marmissolle-Daguerre, Assistant Secretary-General for Partnerships at United Cities and Local Governments, highlighted the role of coastal cities in implementing transformative solutions. Local and regional Governments are trying to move from a public service delivery model to a “caring systems approach”, he said, and coastal cities are leading the way in this. Oceans are not merely their assets, but an integral part of their identity and culture. It is crucial to recognize local and regional governments as full political actors in conserving oceans. The post-2030 Agenda must integrate cultural rights as fundamental to sustainability, he said, adding that all living beings must be considered rights-holders.
Panel Discussion: Investing in Healthy, Inclusive and Resilient Societies to Leave No One Behind
Moderated by Krzysztof Szczerski (Poland), Council Vice-President and Chair of the Commission for Social Development’s sixty-third session, the third panel focused on “Investing in healthy, inclusive and resilient societies to leave no one behind”.
The speakers for its fireside chat were Catharina Lasseur (Netherlands), Chair of the Commission on Population and Development’s fifty-eighth session, and Werner Obermeyer, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Office at the United Nations in New York.
Ms. LASSEUR emphasized that universal access to healthcare is essential to meet the needs of populations as they undergo demographic transitions towards longer lives and smaller families. Ageing populations have specific needs, such as expanded services for geriatric care, chronic disease management and preventive care. Similarly, migrant communities often face legal and economic barriers and require tailored healthcare interventions and continuous care. She also underlined the need to promote inclusive political growth, equal pay and equal leadership opportunities for women.
Mr. OBERMEYER said: “The pandemic erased almost a decade worth of progress we made in global health.” Outlining how it interrupted all health services — from disease prevention to rehabilitation — he added that “no system has recovered from it.” Financing is paramount in dealing with the next pandemic, he said, stressing the need “to spend the money better” and look at ways to prioritize health across budgets. Also, reorienting health systems to focus on primary healthcare is the way to achieve 90 per cent coverage of interventions needed for universal health coverage.
The panel began with Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in New York, who underscored that “investments guided by human rights provide the best returns for societies”. Economic policymaking should not be a “human rights-free zone”, she said, emphasizing that “food is not a commodity” and “health is not a privilege”. Furthermore, the benefits of technology must be seen as global public goods and rights to development principles, she said, underlining the need to reform the international financial and debt architecture.
Warning against the stalling of global poverty reduction, Ana María Oviedo, Lead Economist in the Poverty and Equity Department of the World Bank Group, said today, almost 700 million people — 8.5 per cent of the global population — live in extreme poverty, on less than $2.15 per day. Around 3.5 billion — nearly half of the global population — live on less than $6.85 per day. “This number has barely changed since 1990, especially for women and marginalized groups,” she observed. Spotlighting persistent barriers women face in labour markets and financial inclusion, she stated: “We cannot end poverty on a liveable planet with half the population excluded from opportunity.”
Turning to “the very survival” of lesbian, gay, transgender and intersex (LGBTI+) communities worldwide, Ophelia Kemigisha, Programme Officer at Outright International (LGBTI Stakeholder Group), underscored that a society that denies their rights is not a resilient society but a fragile one. “If trans people cannot keep a decent job, travel safely, receive basic health care or humanitarian aid because they do not have an ID that matches who they are, then we are not living in a world that promises development for all,” she asserted.