UN System Outlines Common Narrative.

A United Nations system working group has prepared a shared narrative for six high-level events to be held in September 2019. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres informally presented the narrative document to governments to support the preparations for the meetings.

The narrative describes the series of meetings as a singular global meeting with the triple objective of taking stock of progress, increasing ambition and highlighting “evolutionary, just and responsive” solutions to global challenges.

• The general debate of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA);
• The Climate Action Summit convened by the Secretary-General;
• The United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) meeting under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly (also known as the SDG Summit);
• United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC);
• The high-level dialogue of the General Assembly on Financing for Development (FFD); and
• United Nations General Assembly High-Level Review of SAMOA’s Pathway to Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

In a letter accompanying the story, Guterres informed the Member States that he had asked the HLPF working team of the United Nations system to produce the document following the call by some Member States for coherence. between meetings and a “unifying narrative” that would facilitate the implementation of the agreements reached. in 2015. In 2015, the United Nations governments adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development containing the 17 SDGs and the Addis Ababa Action Program on Climate Change. development finance.

The three-page document identifies the connections and commonalities between the meetings, noting that all aim to “inspire ambitious action to eradicate poverty, address the climate threat and ensure a healthy, peaceful and prosperous life for all”. In addition, each meeting includes the “core principles” of the 2030 Agenda, namely universality, leaving no one behind, and a strengthened global partnership. Specific interconnections between meetings are perceived as follows:

• Climate meetings and UHC deal with threats to the well-being of people, especially the most vulnerable
• The general debate and the HLPF will take stock of the 2030 agenda, while the FfD dialogue will seek to increase the resources needed to achieve this agenda
• The review of the SAMOA Pathway and the high-level week as a whole will focus on the most vulnerable countries in the world.

In a section on stocktaking, the authors point out that various actors have taken measures and initiatives for the SDGs and the climate over the last four years. For example, cities and local authorities led a global movement for transformation, 75% of UN member states submitted a voluntary national review of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, 182 countries submitted specific contributions at the national level under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the United Nations development system is being reformed to better assist countries to implement the 2030 Agenda.

As part of the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals, the document highlights achievements in poverty and access to health, education and basic infrastructure. More problematic trends include displacement, conflict and inequality, as well as hunger, wages, inequality between men and women and “radical climate change” as well as unsustainable consumption and production. The worst effects of these trends are felt by the poorest and most vulnerable, the document says. He added that financing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals remains a major challenge.

As a result of this inventory, the narrative document presents a vision of the high-level week. Beginning Monday, September 23, the Climate Action Summit could set the tone for the week by generating a boost of ambition and highlighting compelling solutions. Also on Monday, the CSU meeting will highlight the links between health and climate, and health as a “precondition, result and driver” of sustainable development.

Source: SDG Knowledge Hub.