On October 22, 2015, over 100 people filled Brooklyn Borough Hall to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. The evening, organized by the Brooklyn Chapter of the United Nations Association, the Delta Rho Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the United Nations Association Young Professionals, Southern New York Division, included expert speakers, information about local initiatives, fantastic food a drinks, and a live band. Who could ask for a better night?
Brooklyn Borough President, Eric L. Adams opened the event with a powerful speech connecting the diversity and cultural richness of Brooklyn, as well as the issues of inequality and racism, among others, to the work of the United Nations. With classic Brooklyn modesty, Adams declared Brooklyn the coolest borough. Although I don’t live in Brooklyn, I can’t exactly disagree.
Brooklyn Borough President, Eric L. Adams opened the event with a powerful speech connecting the diversity and cultural richness of Brooklyn, as well as the issues of inequality and racism, among others, to the work of the United Nations. With classic Brooklyn modesty, Adams declared Brooklyn the coolest borough. Although I don’t live in Brooklyn, I can’t exactly disagree.
Local organizations such as Black Women's Blueprint, an anchor organization for NYC4 CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of all forms for Discrimination Against Women), NYPIRG, 350.org shared campaigns and information about climate change, promoting gender equality, and other issues.
Speakers included myself, representing the United Nations Association Young Professionals, Estelle Wagner of International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Regions, and Kristen Petillon of the United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations. I spoke about the Sustainable Development Goals and their relevance to New Yorkers
Speakers included myself, representing the United Nations Association Young Professionals, Estelle Wagner of International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Regions, and Kristen Petillon of the United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations. I spoke about the Sustainable Development Goals and their relevance to New Yorkers
Excerpt from Speech by Anna Keye at UN Day at Brooklyn Borough Hall
Tonight, I’m excited to share some of the most important news out of the United Nations in a long time, the Sustainable Development Goals! Also known as the #SDGs!
The new SDGs, a comprehensive set of goals the entire world will aim to reach by 2030, were developed through what the Secretary-General calls the most consultative process in human history. They were adopted by all 193 UN member nations last month after three years of public input and negotiation.
Indeed, governments, citizens, and thousands of civil society organizations collaborated to agree on the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda ever!
Over 8 million people around the world used the MyWorld website to choose their own priorities for the goals. The UNA-USA held consultations in 50 cities across the country, engaging thousands of Americans. At the UN and across the world, millions of individuals engaged in the Post 2015 negotiations. In my role at the International Women’s Health Coalition, I have the pleasure to be part of a coalition of over 600 women’s organizations from all over the world, the Women’s Major Group, who worked to ensure that the SDGs include strong commitments on climate change, human rights, gender equality, reproductive rights, and much more.
Because of these efforts, the UN agreed on 17 interconnected goals, focused on achieving ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and ending climate change.
One of the most powerful and promising aspects of the SDGs is that these goals apply to all countries, not just the developing world, unlike their predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals. They are universal, recognizing that in all countries, including in the United States, extreme inequalities remain, millions still live in poverty, men and women are not equal, and we are one of the main contributors to climate change. We’ve got a lot of work to do ourselves to meet these goals.
Included in the 17 goals are 169 targets that address the interlinkages between the goals and ensure that no one is left behind. Here are a few I think are most relevant to us here in New York.
Target 8.5: Equal pay for work of equal value;
Targets 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3: End all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls including child, early, and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation;
Targets 3.7, 3.8, and 5.6: Universal health coverage, including universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services and reproductive rights;
Target 10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex,
disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status;
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Let’s work together to ensure that achieving the SDGs, both within the United States and all over the world, remains a global priority.
How can we do that? Well, we need to hold our government accountable for implementing the SDGs here. We need to ensure that grassroots organizations in Brooklyn, in the United States, and all over the world stay involved and engaged in the SDGs. And we need to make sure that the US government keeps its promises by contributing our fair share to the UN and to the Sustainable Development Goals.
I hope all of you will join the United Nations Association in our efforts to work with the UN and the US government to achieve the SDGs by 2030!
The new SDGs, a comprehensive set of goals the entire world will aim to reach by 2030, were developed through what the Secretary-General calls the most consultative process in human history. They were adopted by all 193 UN member nations last month after three years of public input and negotiation.
Indeed, governments, citizens, and thousands of civil society organizations collaborated to agree on the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda ever!
Over 8 million people around the world used the MyWorld website to choose their own priorities for the goals. The UNA-USA held consultations in 50 cities across the country, engaging thousands of Americans. At the UN and across the world, millions of individuals engaged in the Post 2015 negotiations. In my role at the International Women’s Health Coalition, I have the pleasure to be part of a coalition of over 600 women’s organizations from all over the world, the Women’s Major Group, who worked to ensure that the SDGs include strong commitments on climate change, human rights, gender equality, reproductive rights, and much more.
Because of these efforts, the UN agreed on 17 interconnected goals, focused on achieving ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and ending climate change.
One of the most powerful and promising aspects of the SDGs is that these goals apply to all countries, not just the developing world, unlike their predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals. They are universal, recognizing that in all countries, including in the United States, extreme inequalities remain, millions still live in poverty, men and women are not equal, and we are one of the main contributors to climate change. We’ve got a lot of work to do ourselves to meet these goals.
Included in the 17 goals are 169 targets that address the interlinkages between the goals and ensure that no one is left behind. Here are a few I think are most relevant to us here in New York.
Target 8.5: Equal pay for work of equal value;
Targets 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3: End all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls including child, early, and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation;
Targets 3.7, 3.8, and 5.6: Universal health coverage, including universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services and reproductive rights;
Target 10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex,
disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status;
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Let’s work together to ensure that achieving the SDGs, both within the United States and all over the world, remains a global priority.
How can we do that? Well, we need to hold our government accountable for implementing the SDGs here. We need to ensure that grassroots organizations in Brooklyn, in the United States, and all over the world stay involved and engaged in the SDGs. And we need to make sure that the US government keeps its promises by contributing our fair share to the UN and to the Sustainable Development Goals.
I hope all of you will join the United Nations Association in our efforts to work with the UN and the US government to achieve the SDGs by 2030!