The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, convened under the auspices of the General Assembly, 24-25 September 2019, approved a political declaration launching an “ambitious and accelerated” new decade of action in pursuit of critical development targets.
By the terms of the declaration, Heads of State, Ministers and other senior Government officials reaffirmed their pledges to end poverty and hunger, combat inequality and build peaceful, just and inclusive societies, all enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Stressing that poverty continues to pose the greatest global challenge, they vowed once again to “leave no on behind”, while committing to more tangible steps to reach those furthest behind first.
Among other things, leaders spotlighted climate change as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity and emphasized that mitigation and adaptation constitute immediate and urgent priorities. They voiced concern over the slow pace of development progress; recognized the threats of violent extremism, terrorism, corruption, humanitarian crises and forced displacement; and drew attention to the special challenges facing countries in special situations. States also vowed to focus on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, mobilize adequate and well-directed funding, “lift the level of ambition” in national policies and build stronger multilateral partnerships.
The ten commitments of the declaration are: (a) Leaving no one behind, (b) Mobilizing adequate and well-directed financing, (c) Enhancing national implementation, (d) Strengthening institutions for more integrated solutions, (e) Bolstering local action to accelerate implementation, (f) Reducing disaster risk and building resilience, (g) Solving challenges through international cooperation and enhancing the global partnership, (h) Harnessing science, technology and innovation with a greater focus on digital transformation for sustainable development, (i) Investing in data and statistics for the Sustainable Development Goals, (j) Strengthening the high-level political forum.
The Forum adopted, without a vote, a resolution titled “Political declaration of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development convened under the auspices of the General Assembly” (document A/HLPF/2019/L.1). Annexed to it was the full text of the declaration, which will be forwarded to the General Assembly for endorsement.
More information: https://undocs.org/en/A/HLPF/2019/l.1