Yunus meets UN Secretary General at UN SDG Advocates’ Meeting at UN HQ
Yunus Centre Press Release (September 25, 2016):
Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus along with fellow Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) advocates held meeting with UN Secretary General at the chair for the last time before he steps out of UN, at UN head quarter on September 23, 2016. Launched on 21 January 2016 on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the SDG Advocates consist of 17 eminent persons assisting the UN Secretary-General in the campaign to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that world leaders unanimously adopted in September 2015.
With a mandate to support the Secretary-General in his efforts to generate momentum and commitment to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the SDG Advocates have been working to promote the universal sustainable development agenda, to raise awareness of the integrated nature of the SDGs, and to foster the engagement of new stakeholders in the implementation of these Goals.
SDG Advocates Group is co-chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Ghana President John Dramani Mahama. Besides Professor Yunus other members of SDG are Queen Mathilde of Belgium; Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden; Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Chinese Alibaba Group of Internet-based businesses; and Leo Messi, the world renowned Argentine-born footballer, who is also a UN Children’s Fund Goodwill Ambassador, Shakira, the famous singer, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Co-Founder of the Qatar Foundation; Alaa Murabit, Founder of The Voice of Libyan Women; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever.
This meeting is the last one chaired by Ban Ki Moon. During the meeting Professor Yunus urged secretary general Ban ki Moon to continue to lead world even after he leaves the UN position.
Professor Yunus thanked secretary general Ban Ki Moon for contributing uniquely in changing the world to move in the right direction. UN will miss him, and the world will miss him after he leaves his position. He'll be remembered in the world history for crafting the SDGs and steering them through the UN decision-making process to build a global consensus around them despite many strong opposition to them. He'll have a permanent place in history for bringing all nations of the world to sign on the Paris Agreement to protect the world from global warming and adopting binding targets.
Professor Yunus proposed that he lead a civil society movement to make sure SDGs are implemented with full vigour and commitment. This civil society movement may organize two SDG summits every year, one for all civil society organizations, one for the youths of the world. Other members of the SDG Advocates group supported expressed their support to professor Yunus's proposal and congratulated Secretary General for securing the Paris Climate Agreements which he said is one of the historic milestone for human history. setting the stage for the world to overcome all major social and environmental problems.
Later Professor Yunus met HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at the Swedish UN Mission Head Quarter at her invitation. They discussed the proposal presented by Professor Yunus at the SDG group meeting. He briefed her about social business and its potential in addressing pressing global challenges like poverty, unemployment and climate issues. They talked about possibility of launching social business initiatives in Sweden. Professor Yunus will meet HRH Crown Princess in Stockholm this year to follow up on the discussion held in NY.
Photo Caption 1: Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is congratulating outgoing Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki Moon on his successes during his 10 years tenure including the Paris Climate Agreement on September 23, 2016.
Photo Caption 2: Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is seen among other SDG advocates who met Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki Moon on September 23, 2016. SDG advocates, seen with Professor Yunus, include Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg( sitting besides Ban Ki Moon),Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden; Thomas Gass, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Mr. Richard Curtis, Producer and Film Director, Alaa Murabit, Founder of The Voice of Libyan Women; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, Nobel Peace Laureate Ms. Leymah Gbowee, Ambassador Dho Young-Shim, Chairperson, United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Foundation, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University, Mr. Forrest Whitaker, Founder and CEO, Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative among others
Source: Yunus Centre
Updated Date: 18th January, 2017