September 21: International Day of Peace
Each year the
International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The
General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals
of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
Sustainable Development Goals:
The 17 Sustainable Development
Goals were unanimously adopted by the 193 Member States of the United Nations
at an historic summit of the world’s leaders in New York in September 2015. The
new ambitious 2030 agenda calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve these
goals over the next 15 years. It aims to end poverty, protect the planet, and
ensure prosperity for all.
The Sustainable Development Goals
are integral to achieving peace in our time, as development and peace are
interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
Sustainability addresses the
fundamental needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. Modern challenges of poverty, hunger,
diminishing natural resources, water scarcity, social inequality, environmental
degradation, diseases, corruption, racism and xenophobia, among others, pose
challenges for peace and create fertile grounds for conflict. Sustainable development
contributes decisively to dissipation and elimination of these causes of
conflict and provides the foundation for a lasting peace. Peace, meanwhile,
reinforces the conditions for sustainable development and liberates the
resources needed for societies to develop and prosper.
Every single one of the 17
Sustainable Development Goals is a building block in the global architecture of
peace. It is critical that we mobilise means of implementation, including
financial resources, technology development and transfer, and
capacity-building, as well as the role of partnerships. Everyone has a stake
and everyone has a contribution to make.
