St. Vincent and the Grenadines permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Rhonda King, has urged the global community to seize an “unprecedented opportunity to talk to each other and learn from each other”, as the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC) kicks off its Annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development HLPF.
The HLPF is the chief global forum for reviewing successes, challenges and lessons learned, on the road towards reaching the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
This year, the annual meeting is being held under the theme: Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality.
The forum will assess progress made over the past four years, since the goals were adopted by all member states at UN Headquarters in New York.
Ambassador King said the Forum will also decide what needs to be done moving forward and “where the global community is collectively in SDG implementation, globally, regionally, nationally and locally” .
Ambassador King added that the meeting is not an end in itself, but a global platform to showcase experiences and forge partnerships.
She said the “special” nature of this year’s HLPF will inform the upcoming SDG Summit in September.
