Washington, DC, 11 February 2023 - United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed left Washington today, following a two-day visit from New York. While in DC, she met with Executive Board Directors of the World Bank to discuss the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the World Bank’s “Evolution” strategy, strengthening United Nations-World Bank coordination at the country level, and her recent trip to Afghanistan. She also met with senior members of the United States Government and the diplomatic community.
Throughout her meetings, the Deputy Secretary-General shared her concerns that progress towards meeting the SDGs was not moving fast enough. She echoed the sentiments she expressed on 8 February 2023 to the European Committee of the Regions, when she said, “It’s no secret that halfway through implementation, the SDGs are in trouble.” At that same meeting, she had said, “After decades of progress, key indicators on hunger and poverty are going into reverse; the climate emergency is accelerating, and inequalities are growing; the world is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic… We urgently need to redouble our efforts on sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda.”
Progress made towards advancing the SDGs has regressed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and global conflicts including the war in Ukraine. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 mentions that “cascading and interlinked crises are putting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in grave danger, along with humanity’s very own survival”. The report reveals that global poverty rates have increased within the last few years and as many as 676 million people are now living in extreme poverty around the world. Reversals on positive trends have also occurred in food security, inequality, health, and quality education, among other SDGs.
