NEW YORK - It has been a busy year at UN DESA, and the UN DESA Annual Highlights 2021-2022 report presents some of the main impact achieved. The report offers a peek into the important work to promote and advance the long-term goal of shared prosperity on a healthy planet. Here are six things you should know about UN DESA’s efforts.
1. Addressing poverty and the root causes of inequality
With the COVID-19 pandemic driving one of the greatest social and economic crises in the history of the United Nations, and the war in the Ukraine causing a food, fuel and financing crisis, UN DESA continued to emphasize the importance of inclusive social and economic development. The Department promoted integrated long-term social policy frameworks addressing poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition and inequalities, and partnered to bolster LDC advancement. UN DESA also paid critical attention to addressing the digital divide.
2. Guiding global action on our global goals
The Department helped stakeholders identify and share best practices of SDG implementation at all levels. A successful High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) brought more than 140 Heads of State and Government, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers together with other stakeholders to accelerate action on the SDGs.
3. Ensuring sustainable financing
Addressing the urgent issues of financing for sustainable development was high on UN DESA’s agenda. The Department helped frame responses to the debt and liquidity crises exacerbated by COVID-19, the growing climate emergency and disruptions to the food and fuel markets.
4. Making data count
UN DESA helped put data to the task of effective decision-making. The Department monitored progress and gaps in global efforts to achieve the SDGs, highlighting the on-going impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and supported Member States’ efforts to compile and disseminate crucial, innovative, detailed, disaggregated, and geo-referenced data on the pandemic’s impact on society, economy, and government.
5. Protecting our planet
Through its support to the High-level Dialogue on Energy, the Second Global Sustainable Transport Conference, United Nations Ocean Conference and the UN Forum on Forests, among others, the Department moved forward the essential truth that the goals of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement are closely interlinked, and they require multistakeholder partnership and collaboration to be implemented.
6. Framing the future of development
UN DESA helped Member States better understand the complex challenges created by recurrent crises by monitoring, analysing, and forecasting social, economic, and demographic trends.
By taking action on the commitments contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the international community can realize a stable and inclusive recovery, build resilience, and move the world towards sustainable development for all. In UN DESA, that remains the highest priority.
