WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United Nations General Assembly Tuesday approved a resolution sending the draft '2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' to Member States for adoption later this month.
'Today is the start of a new era. We have travelled a long way together to reach this turning point,' declared UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, recounting the path the international community has taken over the 15 years since the adoption of the landmark Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) towards crafting a set of new, post-2015 sustainability goals that will aim to ensure the long-term well-being of our planet and its people.
With world leaders expected to adopt the text at a 25-27 September summit in New York, the UN chief said Agenda 2030 aims high, seeking to put people at the centre of development; foster human well-being, prosperity, peace and justice on a healthy planet and pursue respect for the human rights of all people and gender equality.
The Agenda and its adoption later this month mark the culmination of a series of watershed events in 2015, including Third International Conference on Financing for Development, in Addis Ababa in July, and efforts to forge a new path forward on climate change the 21st meeting of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), widely referred to as COP-21 in Paris in December.
'Together, they are foundational steps to begin implementing the 2030 Agenda,' the Secretary-General explained, adding that those meetings will be followed next year by further crucial steps, including the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May, the Habitat III, Conference in Quito in October and the special session of the UN General Assembly on the World Drug Problem.
Ban said he expects the Heads of State and Government at this month's Summit to not only endorse the new Agenda but to affirm their strong political commitment to its timely implementation. More than 150 world leaders as well as Pope Francis are expected to attend the summit.
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