The Secretary-General met with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advocates. The Secretary-General welcomed the political, business, academic and civil society leaders who make up the Advocates group.    
The Secretary-General stated that while the SDGs are being adopted by governments, business and civil society, we are still dramatically behind where we need to be to achieve the Goals by 2030. He informed the Advocates that he would rely on them to push for global action on the goals, and asked them to use their voices and influence to reach new audiences. He emphasized that the world needs to make a significant leap to succeed on the SDGs, and that the ultimate purpose is to reduce the suffering of people everywhere, including through the fight against climate change. 
The Secretary-General asked the Advocates to put urgency, scale, speed, emotion, and the dignity of people behind their efforts to drive action on the SDGs and to identify opportunities to achieve tipping points to change the trajectory on each of the Goals.   
The Secretary-General counts on the continuing support of the SDG Advocates as we move into the Decade of Action for Delivery of the Goals. 
Further information on the SDG Advocates is available here:  https://www.unsdgadvocates.org/.
 
New York, 22 September 2019