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Sec. Gen. António Guterres Speech

Sec. Gen. António Guterres Speech

Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres starts his speech with a welcome and a clear aim of the Sustainable Goals Moment which is to show “transformation is possible and is happening right now.” Secretary General Guterres continues on to speak of the progress that can be made as “one united family of nations.” However, he also recognizes the challenges that have been brought about by COVID-19 and how it has made the world take several steps back in terms of progress which has been made in the past years. Secretary General Guterres continues with his speech with hope that comes in the form of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which “at its heart is a simple promise: to end poverty and leave no one behind.” He continues on to list what needs to be done to succeed in the goals stated by the Agenda such as universal accessibility to essential services, strengthening critical infrastructure, and placing women at the centre of decision-making. He also mentions the goal to mitigate the effects of climate change which will also help in reducing the risks of future pandemics. Secretary General Guterres describes the 2030 Agenda “[providing] the guiding light we need to end the pandemic, to respond to its socio-economic impacts and to chart a course for a transformative recovery.” He continues with his speech recognizing the efforts businesses, subnational governments, and the people put in to make changes globally. He also calls member-states to begin taking action, listing three areas that are particularly crucial to work on: finance, COVID-19 recovery and ambition. Secretary General Guterres ends the speech with a call for unity in order to tackle the world’s challenges to create “a decade of action; a decade of ambition; a decade of transformation; a decade of hope and peace.”

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