NEW YORK – UN General Assembly President Sam Kutesa on Wednesday appealed to world leaders to improve the livelihoods of all people and set them on a path to achieving sustainable development.
Kutesa urged them to seize this “unprecedented historic moment’’ as an opportunity to make history in order to tackle the momentous tasks ahead of them.
“Let us do so as optimists, let us refrain from being disheartened and discouraged at the enormity of the challenges that lay before us,’’ he said.
In his address, which came less than 470 days left to achieve the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals, the Assembly president commended leaders for reaching some of the targets.
“The MDG on reducing poverty, increasing access to improved drinking water sources, improving the lives of slum dwellers and achieving gender parity in primary school. [eap_ad_1] “Yet the sanitation target lags behind, maternal health is still low, and inequalities within and among countries remain high, and employment levels, particularly among youth remain high,” Kutesa said.
He, however, noted that the international community was also formulating a post-2015 development agenda which should be ambitious, transformative and produce tangible benefits and improved livelihoods.
According to him, the new agenda should promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, safeguard the future of our planet, and lead to the achievement of sustainable development.
“If a truly informative agenda is to be implemented, we will need to bring about profound and lasting changes in the way we think, the way we act, and the way we relate to each other,’’ he stressed.
Kutesa noted the importance of recognising climate change as a dangerous reality that must be urgently addressed and urged leaders and negotiators to work toward a universal and meaningful climate agreement in 2015.
He announced that he would convene a high-level event on combating climate change in June as well as a high-level thematic debate on strengthening cooperation between the UN and regional organisations. (PANA/NAN)
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