UN launches campaign, calling for renewed global ambition and action for the Sustainable Development Goals

Accra, Ghana; 5 July 2023 - The United Nations, today, is kicking off a global communications campaign to rally support and momentum for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the roadmap for people and planet adopted by world leaders in 2015. Ahead of a critical UN Summit in September, the campaign aims to amplify an urgent call for ambitious new action, showcase the Goals as the blueprint for sustainable progress globally, and galvanize the global public around this shared agenda for our common future.

At halftime toward the deadline of 2030, the promise of the SDGs is in peril. For the first time in decades, development progress is reversing under the combined impacts of climate disasters, conflict, economic downturn and lingering COVID-19 effects.

The 2023 SDG Summit will gather world leaders at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 18-19 September to reaffirm their collective commitments to the Goals and the promise to leave no one behind. This Summit is a defining moment to urgently put the world back on track to achieving the SDGs, making bold and ambitious commitments.

As Ghana prepares to participate in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the SDGs Summit, the United Nations is working closely with the Government of Ghana and relevant partners, including the National Development Planning Commission and development partners to reinforce Ghana’s participation and engagement, through the preparation of the Country report, which will highlight progress, challenges and catalytic commitments to put the country back on track – building on the learning from the 2022 Voluntary National Review, the ongoing Voluntary Local Review and other processes. The UN will support, with NDPC in the lead, this important stock take.

Starting today, in a major digital activation across platforms and countries worldwide, the UN campaign aims to re-energize the conversation about the Goals.

“For the first time in decades, development progress is reversing under the combined impacts of climate disasters, conflict, economic downturn, and lingering COVID-19 effects. Fast tracking catalytic priorities for SDGs implementation is our opportunity to restore the gains and forge ahead for a peaceful and just world” says the UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana, Mr. Charles Abani. “The world must embrace this campaign and recommit to a vision of the future that ensures no one is left behind. Already, with support from the UN, Ghana is putting together a stocktaking assessment to guide this important investment agenda” he added.

Building off the color wheel brand of the SDGs, the campaign uses a dynamic new visual system for its messaging to build momentum, raise awareness and mobilize accelerated action for the SDGs.

One core campaign component is the call to individual citizens to take action on the SDGs through the UN’s ActNow initiative across all 17 Goals. From using public transportation, to fundraising for schools or speaking up for equality, the platform lists steps that everyone can take to accelerate progress on the SDGs and create better lives on a healthier planet for all.

A curated group of high-profile influencers, the Circle of Supporters, will galvanize their communities to take individual action on the SDGs and to impress upon decision-makers the urgency to act now.

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More information on the SDG Summit is available at: https://www.un.org/en/conferences/SDGSummit2023

Hashtag: #GlobalGoals 

Media contact:

Alexandra del Castello, UN Department of Global Communications [DGC], alexandra.delcastello@un.org

Cynthia Prah, UN Information Centre, Accra, DGC, prah@un.org; Tel: + 233 (0) 55 678 3033