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We’re off to see the Halftime Show! to see Yo-Yo Ma, Angélique Kidjo, Rocky Dawuni and more.

The busiest week of the year for the United Nations kicked off with a pledge by leaders to renew their commitment to a blueprint for a better future.

The General Assembly adopted a Declaration to accelerate progress on the Goals, which were set in 2015.
Now, at the ‘half-time’ mark, world leaders, members of civil society, youth, activists and business leaders were among the thousands of people who gathered Monday at United Nations Headquarters in New York to commit to making the Goals a reality.

“The world is watching,” declared Dennis Francis, the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly.

Across the street from the United Nations building and parallel with the SDG Summit, civil society has a strong presence in many side events and is holding the World People's Assembly. Latin America has a clear message for world leaders.

Senegalese musician Baaba Maal and UN Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification keeps the rhythm to achieve the sustainable Development Goals

UN Chief António Guterres (left) and his Deputy Amina Mohammed share a light-hearted moment before the action-packed General Assembly week kicks into gear.

Check out our exclusiveinterview with as the UN’s big High Level Week kicks off

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre)

Ian Phillips (left) discusses global trends and the gender gap in STEM as well as opportunities to advance women’s representation and leadership in these domains with Sarah Steinberg (right), Head of Global Public Policy Partnerships for LinkedIn.

With so many leaders in the room, she was the only youth representative. "Today, it's only me standing in front of you. I have big shoes to fill as I remind you again of the many promises you have made, and keep you accountable for your actions—and inactions." Hear directly from Mayada Adil of Sudan, a Youth Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals."

Transitioning to renewable energy is the key to securing humanity’s survival, as “without renewables, there can be no future”, according to UN chief António Guterres.

Renewable technologies like wind and solar power are, in most cases, cheaper than the fossil fuels that are driving climate change. The world needs to prioritize the transformation of energy systems to renewable energy.

The Climate Ambition Summit, scheduled for 20 September at the UN, will consider how to accelerate this transformation.

Find out .

As is the case on most days, global crises are being discussed in meeting halls throughout UN headquarters. The ongoing conflict in Sudan, which is causing a cascade of humanitarian problems in neighbouring countries, was one of them. On Monday, Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohamed pledged the UN's support for Chad, where hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees have fled.

"the anxiety meter is kind of in the orange, not yet in the red"

Said , spokesperson to the chief in preparation for

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre)

Views from UNTV control room and UN photographers in the General Assembly Hall for the coverage.

Representatives of the UN's 193 member states meet in advance of the to discuss advancing progress on delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.

What do Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, South Korean girl group BLACKPINK and US actor Forest Whitaker have in common?

They are all SDG Advocates - public figures dedicated to peace, prosperity and the planet, rallying behind the vision of a better world and inspiring others to do the same.  

Should the United Nations do more to address humanitarian emergencies? UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric explains why relief operations are stretched to the breaking point—and the one clear fix to help them save more lives.

Alphabet soup? We created it! UN staff and delegates are famous for using unwieldy acronyms. You can spot newcomers to the organization by their perplexed demeanour -- especially when hearing a few in the same sentence. Our wordsmith colleagues in DGACM (look it up here) try to keep a lid on it, with its handy up to date editorial manual of officially recognized abbreviations and acronyms in UN documents. Want to guess the meaning of UNMISS? Or SIDS? The first is the 'United Nations Mission in South Sudan;' the second: 'Small Island Developing States.' See this GIF for a further taste.

UN Global Compact launches the initiative of the UN Global Compact at the with the UN Secretary-General and a range of Heads of State and Government, CEOs, UN Officials and other leaders.

Over 130 companies have already joined the new UN Global Compact Forward Faster initiative to accelerate private sector progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Tune in to the Private Sector Forum and watch a LIVE performance from singer, songwriter, producer and activist !

— UN Global Compact (@globalcompact)

Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh traded the ocean for New York State’s Hudson River, at the end of his epic 517-kilometre journey downriver last week that “we can never become complacent when it comes to protecting the environment”.

Watch his call to leaders to step up efforts to protect and preserve the world’s waterways.

The Political Declaration makes a clarion call to action on restructuring debt, providing new development & climate finance.

It re-signifies the roots of 2015 preamble “we are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty & heal our planet.”

— Achim Steiner (@ASteiner)