Global Goals Week

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Global Goals Week Logo Global Goals Week Logo.png
Global Goals Week Logo

Global Goals Week is a shared commitment between a coalition of over 160 partners across all industries, which mobilizes annually in September to bring together communities, demand urgency, and supercharge solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). [1] It was founded in 2016 by the United Nations Foundation, Project Everyone, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly "High-Level Week" in New York. The week includes events, summits, conferences, forums, workshops, pledges, and other activations in New York, around the world, and online. It usually runs alongside Climate Week NYC, the annual conference of Goalkeepers (Gates Foundation), Bloomberg Global Business Forum and many other high-level events.

Contents

History

Young delegates at the UN Youth Climate Summit 2019 Young delegates at the UN Youth Climate Summit 2019.jpg
Young delegates at the UN Youth Climate Summit 2019
UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake, Lilly Singh, and young leaders UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake, Lilly Singh, and young leaders.jpg
UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake, Lilly Singh, and young leaders
Social Good Summit 2019 Social Good Summit 2019.jpg
Social Good Summit 2019
Female leaders at Social Good Summit 2019 Female leaders at Social Good Summit 2019.jpg
Female leaders at Social Good Summit 2019
The Global Goals Icon The Global Goals Icon Color 18.png
The Global Goals Icon

Global Goals Week is an annual week of action that first took place in 2016. It was piloted by core partners Project Everyone, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Foundation. [2] The core partners have now expanded to include the United Nations Department of Global Communications, the UN SDG Strategy Hub, the UN SDG Action Campaign, and Action for Sustainable Development.

Structure

Global Goals Week is scheduled to coincide with the main annual meetings that take place during the UN General Assembly. The week highlights a shared commitment between over 160 partners across civil society, business, academia, and the UN system, to accelerate action on the SDGs, particularly during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. Together, all this helps to reinforce the importance of working together to solve global challenges and achieve the SDGs.

Purpose

The purpose is to organize "action, awareness, and accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals". It is also an opportunity to "speak out as one voice, share ideas and transformative solutions in the fight to build back better from global challenges". [1]

It aims to make "the SDG community come together". [1]

Themes and Activities

2024

Global Goals Week 2024 will take place from September 20 to 29. [3]

2023

Global Goals Week 2023 took place from September 15 to 24. To allow partners more flexibility, the calendar was expanded to host events from September 1 to October 15. [3]

World leaders gathered in New York for the opening of the 78th session of the General Assembly (UNGA 78) under the theme, “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and the sustainability for all.” The first day of the high-level General Debate was September 19. [4] Heads of State and Government and ministers explored solutions to the intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development. [5]

Heads of State and Government also gathered at UN Headquarters in New York on September 18-19 for the 2023 SDG Summit to review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to the target year of 2030 for achieving the Goals. [5]

2022

Global Goals Week 2022 took place from September 16 to 25. To allow partners more flexibility, the calendar was expanded to host events from September 1 to October 15.

The seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly opened on 13 September under the theme, "A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges." The theme stems from the recognition that the world is at a critical moment in the history of the United Nations due to complex and interconnected crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, humanitarian challenges of unprecedented nature, a tipping point in climate change as well as growing concerns about threats to the global economy. [6]

2021

Global Goals Week 2021 took place from September 17 to 26. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the calendar was expanded to host events from September 1 to October 15. Events and activations in 2021 were mostly virtual, but also included some in-person events around the world, as well as hybrid ones.[ citation needed ]

Under the theme 'Building Resilience through Hope', and against the background of the COVID pandemic and global insecurity, the 2021 UN General Assembly's opening underscored the need for greater urgency and ambition to end the pandemic and ensure an equitable and green recovery and accelerated implementation of the SDGs.[ citation needed ]

2020

Global Goals Week 2020 took place from September 18 to 26. It was completely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal was to "cultivate ideas, identify solutions, and build partnerships with the power to solve a wide range of complex global problems from inequality to climate change". [1]

2019

Global Goals Week 2019 took place concurrently with Climate Week NYC 2019, from September 21 to 28. The theme was: "Action for People and Planet". There were 72 Global Goals Week events, 68 events from the SDG Action Zone, 351 events from Climate Week NYC, and 2981 actions, including events, from the SDG Action Campaign. [7] Around 107,000 people attended online and around 30,000 people attended in-person. [7]

The week included the events of the UN Summits Week, comprising the UN-Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit, a High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage; the SDG Summit; the 2019 High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development (FfD); and a High-level Review of Progress on SAMOA Pathway. [7]

Other events included: [7] [8]

A range of commitments were announced in 2019. These include financial commitments, partnerships, initiatives and activists.

Initiatives included: [7]

Activist events included: [7]

Examples of financial commitments: [7]

2018

In 2018, Global Goals Week took place from September 22 to 29. It was termed "the biggest Global Goals Week yet". [9] Its theme was "Let's end poverty, fight inequality, and beat climate change". [9]

Events included: [10]

2017

Held from September 16 to 23, Global Goals Week 2017 events included: [11]

Climate Week took place at the same time.

Trends that emerged from the 2017 Global Goals Week included: "Development through the Trump prism, refugees and migration, humanitarian water-treading, putting business to work (for the SDGs), breaking down siloes, what's next for development and new partnerships, United Nations reform." [12]

Impacts

In 2020, Global Goals Week recorded the following impacts:

For Global Goals Week 2019, the following impacts were reported in terms of social media metrics: Reach: 5.8 billion - defined as the total number of unique people who have seen the social media content. [7] An analysis of Twitter data was done from 20 September to 2 October 2019 of over 50 different hashtags and Twitter handles. Around 10.8 million posts, shares, hashtags and mentions were tracked from 115 countries in 54 different languages. [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Foundation</span> Charitable organization

The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, who believed the UN was crucial for addressing the world's problems. Originally primarily a grantmaker, the UN Foundation has evolved into a strategic partner to the UN, mobilizing support to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help the UN address issues such as climate change, global health, gender equality, human rights, data and technology, peace, and humanitarian responses. The UN Foundation's main work occurs through building public-private partnerships, communities, initiatives, campaigns, and alliances to broaden support for the UN and solve global problems. The UN Foundation has helped build awareness and advocate for action on, among others, antimicrobial resistance, regional action on climate change, local implementation of the SDGs, as well as global campaigns such as Nothing But Nets against malaria, the Measles & Rubella Initiative, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Girl Up, Shot@Life, and the Digital Impact Alliance, among others. In March 2020, the UN Foundation was also a key founder of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), helping to raise over $200 million USD within the first six weeks to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs</span> Government organization in New York, United States

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Second and Third Committees of the United Nations General Assembly. UN DESA assists countries around the world in agenda-setting and decision-making with the goal of meeting their economic, social and environmental challenges. It supports international cooperation to promote sustainable development for all, having as a foundation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015. In providing a broad range of analytical products, policy advice, and technical assistance, UN DESA effectively translates global commitments in the economic, social and environmental spheres into national policies and actions and continues to play a key role in monitoring progress towards internationally agreed-upon development goals. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. Since 2007, leadership positions in UN DESA have been held by representatives from the People's Republic of China. UN DESA has been used to promote China's Belt and Road Initiative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Institute for Sustainable Development</span> Think tank in Canada and Switzerland

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Toronto, and one office in Geneva, Switzerland. It has over 150 staff and associates working in over 30 countries.

The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service is a programme of the United Nations mandated to promote and develop constructive relations between the United Nations and civil society organizations. UN-NGLS operates autonomously across the United Nations system and with civil society constituencies and social movements on cross-cutting and emerging issues on the UN agenda. For example, UN-NGLS currently focuses on the UN General Assembly preparatory process for negotiations of a global compact on migration, and high-level events organized by the President of the UN General Assembly. UN-NGLS advises civil society organizations on opportunities to engage with the UN and facilitates their participation in various UN processes and events. UN-NGLS has offices at UN headquarters in New York and is part of the United Nations Department of Global Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals</span> United Nations 17 sustainable development goals for 2030

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They were created with the aim of "peace and prosperity for people and the planet..." – while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs highlight the strong interconnections between the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability is at the center of the SDGs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Center on Adaptation</span>

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) was founded on 18 September 2018. Hosted by the Netherlands, GCA engages in policy activities, research, communications, and technical assistance to government and the private sector, policy development, research, advocacy, communications, and partnerships. GCA's floating headquarters is hosted by the Netherlands in Rotterdam, with regional offices in Africa, South Asia, and Asia Pacific.

The Bloomberg Global Business Forum is an annual event organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charity founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The event is held during the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in each September in New York City as part of Global Goals Week - an annual week-long event for action, awareness, and accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</span>

The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration runs from 2021 to 2030. Similar to other nature related international decades, its purpose is to promote the United Nation's environmental goals. Specifically, to facilitate global cooperation for the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems. Along with fostering efforts to combat climate change, safeguard biodiversity, food security, and water supply. While much focus is on promoting restoration activity by national governments, the UN also wishes to promote such efforts from other actors, ranging from the private sector and NGOs to regular individuals.

The 2019 UN Climate Action Summit was held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City on 23 September 2019. The UN 2019 Climate Summit convened on the theme, "Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win." The goal of the summit was to further climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the mean global temperature from rising by more than 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels. Sixty countries were expected to "announce steps to reduce emissions and support populations most vulnerable to the climate crisis" including France, a number of other European countries, small island countries and India. To increase pressure on political and economic actors to achieve the aims of the summit, a global climate strike was held around the world on 20 September with over four million participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 13</span> UN goal to combat climate change

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 2</span> Global goal to end hunger by 2030

Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to achieve "zero hunger". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is: "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture". SDG 2 highlights the "complex inter-linkages between food security, nutrition, rural transformation and sustainable agriculture". According to the United Nations, there are around 690 million people who are hungry, which accounts for slightly less than 10 percent of the world population. One in every nine people goes to bed hungry each night, including 20 million people currently at risk of famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria.

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Sustainable Development Goal 1, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, calls for the end of poverty in all forms. The official wording is: "No Poverty". Member countries have pledged to "Leave No One Behind": underlying the goal is a "powerful commitment to leave no one behind and to reach those farthest behind first".

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Global Goals Week - About". United Nations Foundation. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. "Global Goals Week 2019". SDG Knowledge Hub. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Global Goals Week". Global Goals Week. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  4. Environment, U. N. (2023-10-03). "78th session of the UN General Assembly". UNEP - UN Environment Programme. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  5. 1 2 Nations, United. "General Assembly High-level Week 2023". United Nations. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  6. "Highlights: United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week 2022".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UN Foundations (2019) Presentation about Global Goals Week in 2019, provided on website about Global Goals Week.
  8. "Global Goals Week 2019". IISD SDG Knowledge Hub. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Global Goals Week 2018". The Global Goals. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  10. "Global Goals Week 2018". IISD SDG Knowledge Hub. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  11. "Global Goals Week 2017". IISD SDG Knowledge Hub. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  12. "7 biggest trends to emerge from Global Goals Week". Devex. By Elizabeth Dickinson, Michael Igoe, Catherine Cheney, Amy Lieberman. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2020.