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UNICEF: Sustainable Development Goals beginning of the 'drive to turn commitments into action’

2015-09-25

Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake speaks at the opening session of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, at UNHQ. On 20 November 2014, the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was held at United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ). The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the worlds most endorsed human rights treaty, sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The meeting ought together participants to review progress achieved for children since the treatys adoption by the General Assembly in 1989; to identify key challenges to realizing childrens rights; and to examine best ways to address these challenges as the international community moves into the next 25 years. President of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Sam Kahamba Kutesa and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake were among the key speakers. UNICEF unveiled its #IMAGINE project and launched a special edition of its State of the Worlds Children flagship report during the event. This first-ever fully digital, interactive edition of the publication, entitled Reimagine the future: Innovation for every child, highlights innovations that are already improving lives in countries around the world and includes multimedia and interactive content that invites readers to share their own ideas and innovations. The #IMAGINE Project, through a new interactive digital experience, will allow everyday people to use an application to record their own version of Imagine, John Lennons iconic anthem of hope and peace, alongside their favourite stars, in what UNICEF hopes will be the largest-ever global singalong. The launches were held as part of CRC twenty-fifth anniversary celeations.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake speaks at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 2014

NEW YORK/ HONG KONG, 25 September 2015 - “Today’s welcome decision marks the end of a process – and a beginning. The drive to turn commitments into action.

“We will measure our progress, yes, through statistics. But the true measure will be in every child lifted out of poverty; through every mother who survives childbirth; every girl who does not lose her childhood to early marriage.

“By helping the most disadvantaged children today – by giving them a fair chance in life – we can help eak the bonds of extreme poverty tomorrow.”

BACKGROUND

The Sustainable Development Goals represent an ambitious global plan of action that aims to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger, provide quality lifelong education for all, protect the planet and promote peaceful and inclusive societies. They build upon commitments to children in the areas of poverty, nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation and gender equality contained in the SDG’s precursors, the Millennium Development Goals. Critically, the SDGs also include new goals and targets on child protection, early childhood education, and reducing inequality.