On 23 September 2016, Nobel Laureate and SDG Advocate Leymah Gbowee during the high-level side event, ‘SDGs Coming to Life: Envisioning a Common and Resilient Future,’ organized in conjunction with the 71st UN General Assembly on the 23rd of September 2016.
“It is not just enough for governments to say ‘we have national development agenda that incorporates the SDGs’ if your budget is not aligned with the Goals,” Gbowee said.
Gbowee joined the high-level event with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, UN Development Group Chair Helen Clark, as well as foreign ministers from Germany, Somalia, Burkina Faso, and Norway.
“We live in times of unprecedented opportunities as well as unprecedented global challenges. These challenges threaten to reverse development gains. We must address swiftly and decisively focusing on helping the poorest, marginalized and hardest to reach,” the Secretary-General stated during his opening remarks.
The event explored the role of multi-stakeholder engagement for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in countries affected by conflict or disaster-driven crises based on a report published by the UN Development Group (UNDG), titled ‘The SDGs are Coming to Life’.
Link to the Report: https://goo.gl/mL2kr5