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International Day of the Girl Child

9 Oct 2015

The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals rightly include key targets for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They offer an opportunity for a global commitment to breaking intergenerational transmission of poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination – and realizing our vision of a life of dignity for all. Our task now is to get to work on meeting the SDG targets and making good on our promises to give girls all the opportunities they deserve as they mature to adulthood by 2030. That means enabling them to avoid child marriage and unwanted pregnancy, protect ag…

International Day of Older Persons

1 Oct 2015

On the 25th anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons, we recognize that older persons are an enormous asset to society and make a significant contribution to global development. On September 25 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Heads of State and governments committed themselves to building a sustainable world where no one, regardless of their age or gender, is left behind. In implementing the newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must account for the demographic changes of the next 15 years. These will have a direct bearing on the achievement of the …

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, A Bridge Between the Short and Long Term

24 Sep 2015

On 25 September, in New York, the Member States of the United Nations (UN) will officially adopt the 2030 Transformative Agenda for Sustainable Development, which constitutes a milestone in the global process to build more egalitarian societies capable of living in harmony with the environment. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included in this agenda will replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that guided countries’ efforts during the last 15 years. The difference between these agendas is relevant for Latin America and the Caribbean: the new roadmap addresses numerous…

International Day of Peace

21 Sep 2015

This year’s International Day of Peace comes at a time of deadly violence and destabilizing conflicts around the world. Rather than succumbing to despair, we have a collective responsibility to demand an end to the brutality and impunity that prevail. I call on all warring parties to lay down their weapons and observe a global ceasefire. To them I say: stop the killings and the destruction, and create space for lasting peace. Although it may seem hopelessly distant, the dream of peace pulses in the lives of people everywhere. There is no group more poised to help realize this dream than today’…

China’s “New Normal” and Its Effects on Latin America and the Caribbean

9 Sep 2015

Today China represents 17.1% of investment in the world, around 11% of global exports of goods and services, 10% of imports, and just 5.4% of international consumption. It is no surprise, then, that the entire world is eyeing this country, not only due to the financial volatility and uncertainty seen since the fall of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the devaluation of the yuan, but also because of its so-called “new normal,” which refers to the Asian giant’s future pace of economic growth. Most assuredly, the world will have to get used to a China growing significantly below the 10% rates we h…

World Humanitarian Day

19 Aug 2015

On World Humanitarian Day, we honour the selfless dedication and sacrifice of workers and volunteers from around the world who devote themselves – often at great personal risk – to assisting the world’s most vulnerable people. This year, more than 100 million women, men and children need life-saving humanitarian assistance. The amount of people affected by conflict has reached levels not seen since the Second World War, while the number of those affected by natural and human-induced disasters remains profound. On this Day we also celebrate our common humanity. The families and communities stru…

International Day of Youth

12 Aug 2015

Emerging threats, violent extremism, shifting political conditions, economic turmoil and social transformations are combining to heighten the challenges facing the world’s young people. No one knows better than them the issues at stake or the best way to respond. That is why I am calling on young people to speak out – and I am urging leaders to listen. As the world changes with unprecedented speed, young people are proving to be invaluable partners who can advance meaningful solutions. Youth movements and student groups are challenging traditional power structures and advocating a new social c…

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

9 Aug 2015

This year, as the United Nations commemorates its 70th anniversary, we can look back on major advances for humanity. The 2007 adoption by the General Assembly of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was one of many successes achieved through the fruitful partnership between indigenous peoples and United Nations Member States. The year also marks a watershed in human development. The period of the Millennium Development Goals is drawing to a close to be succeeded by a post-2015 development agenda designed to advance inclusion and shared prosperity. This people’s agend…

How Can We Finance Sustainable Development?

13 Jul 2015

The Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which will be held from July 13 to July 16 in Addis Ababa, represents a unique opportunity to overcome the challenges that middle-income countries face, to procure effective financing at all income levels, and to fulfill the transformative objectives of the post-2015 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be presented in September in the framework of the United Nations General Assembly. To this end, the financing architecture for development must mobilize a large quantity of resources and change the way i…

World Population Day

10 Jul 2015

Not since the end of the Second World War have so many people been forced from their homes across the planet. With nearly 60 million individuals having fled conflict or disaster, women and adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable. Violent extremists and armed groups are committing terrible abuses that result in trauma, unintended pregnancy and infection with HIV and other diseases. Shame and accountability rest squarely on the shoulders of the perpetrators who wage cowardly battles across the bodies of innocents. These women are far from just victims. They have hopes, plans and…

World Day to Combat Desertification

17 Jun 2015

“Invest in healthy soils”. Land degradation and desertification undercut human rights, starting with the right to food. Nearly 1 billion people lack adequate nutrition, and those living off degraded areas are among the most affected. Their situation could worsen if land degradation, as projected, reduces global food production by 12 per cent by 2035. Food security is also impacted by the decline in water resources. Due to land degradation there is less water and snow being stored in the ground. In 10 years, two out of every three people in the world could be living unde…

Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean: Reinforcing Convergences

12 Jun 2015

Starting on Monday Brussels is hosting a new meeting between leaders from Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, a positive sign of the shared will to bolster bridges and consolidate ties that have profound roots in our past and significant possibilities for the future. Currently, the European Union has trade agreements with 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries, which makes it the partner with the biggest set of trade agreements in the region, followed by the United States, which has free-trade agreements with 11 countries. Although the European Union continues to be the second desti…

World Environment Day

5 Jun 2015

The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”. Humanity continues to consume far more natural resources than the planet can sustainably provide. Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points. It is time for us to change. The goal of sustainable development is to increase the quality of life for all people without increasing environmental degradation, and without compromising the resource needs of future generations. We can do this by shifting our consumption patterns towards goods that use less ene…

China and Latin America: Diversification Is the Key Word

25 May 2015

The visit that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang begins this week to Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru marks a new milestone in the deepening of economic, political and cooperation ties between Latin America and the Caribbean and China. Premier Li’s visit and the speech he will give to the region from ECLAC’s headquarters on May 25th are part of China’s sustained effort to forge a joint path since that country recognized in 2008 the strategic nature of relations with our region in its White Paper (the formal document where it states official policy in that regard). These bilateral economic relations f…

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

15 May 2015

This year the International Telecommunication Union celebrates its 150th anniversary. ITU has earned its global reputation for resilience and relevance. I applaud the agency’s many contributions as the oldest member in the United Nations system. Telecommunications – as well as information and communications technology – drive innovation. The digital revolution has transformed our world. We communicate more easily than ever before. But we need to be more than connected – we need to be united. That is why the United Nations is mobilizing the world to forge a bold, new agenda for sustainable deve…

Why 2015 is key for sustainable development

7 May 2015 | Op-ed

In the upcoming months, decision-makers and leaders will have unprecedented opportunities to establish, within a multi-lateral framework, a transformational agenda for the future of sustainable development. In a context of global paradigm shifts, the concurrence of three key global summits will define the route and aspirations of this agenda for the coming decades. The Third Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Addis Ababa in July, represents a unique forum for recasting development financing to meet the approach of the post-2015 development agenda. This agenda, to be ad…

The Data Revolution for Inclusive and Sustainable Development

27 Apr 2015

The digital revolution, one of the biggest paradigm shifts seen on a global level, has a major impact that cuts across all of our societies’ activities. This has generated exponential growth in the volume and types of available data, which are produced continuously and at great speed by people, machines and sensors, electronic transactions and via the use of Internet, among other sources. At the same time, there is greater demand today for increasingly disaggregated, updated and timely information. In addition to the traditional sources of data and indicators—such as censuses and…

International Mother Earth Day

22 Apr 2015

The word ‘mother’ holds great power. It evokes memories of the women who gave us life, nurtured us as infants and helped mould us into who we are today. The Earth is the ultimate mother – an astounding planet that has, since time immemorial, supported life in myriad forms. As humans, we outgrow the need for constant maternal care. But we can never outgrow our reliance on Mother Earth. As long as we live, we need air, water, fertile soil and the countless other gifts this planet bestows. This dependence makes it all the more astonishing that we have allowed rapid a…

Road Safety Needs Integrated Public Policies

30 Mar 2015

Throughout the world the injuries caused by traffic accidents constitute a major public health problem that has a broad range of social and economic consequences. The efforts to address this issue at a global level, which culminated in the 2010 launching of the Decade of Action for Road Safety by the United Nations General Assembly and in the inclusion of road safety targets in the post-2015 development goals, illustrate the persistent challenges to achieving safe mobility in the context of sustainable development. Road safety continues to be a matter of great concern in Latin America and the …

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

25 Mar 2015

Over the course of more than four centuries, some 15 million Africans were taken from their homes across Africa and transported by force to the Americas. The number of people purchased by slave traders was even higher. Those slaves who survived were bought and sold, stripped of all dignity, denied all human rights. Even their children could be taken from them and sold for the profit of their “owners”. The Transatlantic slave trade remains a monstrous crime and a stain on human history. This year’s Day of Remembrance pays particular tribute to the many women who suffered…

258 search results. Displaying 20 per page.