Leaders urged to make SDGs more than a ‘to-do’ list

World leaders were urged on Friday to do more than just adopt development “to-do” lists at this year’s United Nations General Assembly, and to incorporate the new sustainable development goals (SDG) in their government programmes.

Leaders from the UN’s 193 member countries adopted the goals on Friday at a special summit during the UN’s general assembly, which is celebrating 70 years of existence this year.

Speaking at the opening of the assembly, Pope Francis told global leaders “solemn commitments” were not enough, but they were a necessary step towards finding solutions.

“Our world demands of all government leaders a will which is effective, practical, and constant,” he said. Concrete steps were needed to preserve the environment and fight the ills of social and economic exclusion, which led to human trafficking and a trade in people and body parts.

“Such is the magnitude of these situations and their toll on innocent lives that we must avoid every temptation to fall into a declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences,” he said. “We need to ensure that our institutions are truly effective in the struggle against these scourges.”

He said leaders should not just draw up lists of goals, but should remember they were dealing with “real men and women who live, struggle, and suffer, and are often forced to live in great poverty, deprived of all rights”.

He said people should be involved in decisions on how to improve their circumstances.

The Pope, whose speech was greeted with a standing ovation, also called for nuclear disarmament, an end to exploitation of the poor by the rich, and equal decision-making by all nations in the UN.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in his opening speech, said the UN’s Agenda 2030, which contains the 17 SDGs, “is a promise by leaders to all people everywhere”.

He said it was a “transformative vision for a better world” and “an agenda for people to end poverty in all its forms”.

Ban added, however, that the true test of commitment to these goals “will be implementation. We need action from everyone, everywhere”.

He said the goals “are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success”.

“To achieve these new global goals, we will need your high-level political commitment. We will need a renewed global partnership,” he said.

The 17 goals, which comprise 169 targets, most to be reached by 2030, replace the eight Millennium Development Goals(MDG) which the UN agreed to in 2000 and which expire at the end of this year.

Some have criticised the SDGs as being too many, too vague, and too ambitious.

Salil Shetty from Amnesty International said it was important for “poor and marginalised people to be primary decision-makers at every stage”, for development to succeed.

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai also spoke at the opening, appealing to world leaders to promise the youth high quality, equitable, and free primary and secondary education for all, reflecting one of the SDGs.

“The world cannot change by itself,” she said. “It’s me, it’s you, it’s all of us that have to bring that change.”

Security was at maximum around the UN headquarters on the banks of the East River in Manhattan on Friday morning. Police and secret service agents secured streets around the headquarters, as world leaders and their delegations filed into the National Assembly building.

President Jacob Zuma did not attend the opening, as he jetted into the United States when the assembly was already in session. He is expected to address the summit on the SDGs on Sunday, and will make a statement in the general debate on Monday.

In a press release on Friday, his office said the sustainable development goals were aligned to South Africa’s National Development plan, as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

“South Africa will use the general debate to reflect on the achievements of the UN in the past seven decades and highlight the priorities for the organisation, with the aim of identifying ways to make it more effective, representative, democratic, and transparent,” the statement said.

Zuma is accompanied by ten cabinet members.

(File photo: Facebook, UN)