UN Declares SDGs Are In Jeopardy, Launches Campaign To Rally Support

The United Nations has issued a warning that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 are in jeopardy and that something must be done immediately to galvanise them.

Last Wednesday, the world body launched a communications campaign to gather support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the blueprint for people and the planet set by world leaders in 2015.

According to a release, the campaign intends to raise an urgent demand for ambitious new action, highlight the Goals as the blueprint for global sustainable progress, and galvanize the global public around this shared agenda for the common future ahead of a vital UN Summit in September.

“At halftime toward the 2030 deadline, the promise of the SDGs is in jeopardy,” the statement added. Climate disasters, conflict, economic slump, and lasting COVID-19 effects are reversing development gains for the first time in decades.”

The statement revealed that: “The 2023 SDG Summit will gather world leaders at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 18-19 September to reaffirm their collective commitments to the Goals and the promise to leave no one behind. This Summit is a defining moment to urgently put the world back on track to achieving the SDGs.

“Starting today, in a major digital activation across platforms and countries worldwide, the UN campaign aims to re-energize the conversation about the Goals.”

The Director of Campaigns in the UN Department for Global Communications,  Nanette Braun, was quoted in the statement to have said: “We want to get everyone on board for the SDGs”, while the

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, said: “Our hope is that decision-makers and individual citizens alike will feel inspired to join the conversation and contribute to achieving the Goals with new resolve and ambition.”

The statement said building off the colour wheel brand of the SDGs, the campaign uses a dynamic new visual system for its messaging to build momentum, raise awareness and mobilize accelerated action for the SDGs.

It revealed that one core campaign component is the call to individual citizens to take action on the SDGs through the UN’s ActNow initiative across all 17 Goals. From using public transportation to fundraising for schools or speaking up for equality, the platform lists steps that everyone can take to accelerate progress on the SDGs and create better lives on a healthier planet for all.

It added that a curated group of high-profile influencers, the Circle of Supporters, will galvanize their communities to take individual action on the SDGs and to impress upon decision-makers the urgency to act now.