Commemoration of the 72nd anniversary of the United Nations Charter -
“SDGs: Their effects on human rights implementation in an ever-changing environment”
by the Geneva International Model United Nations (GIMUN)

Mr. Baroffio,
Ms. Sarteur,
Dear friends:

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Palais des Nations today. We enjoy close cooperation with the Geneva International Model United Nations (GIMUN) and are delighted to commemorate United Nations Day together every year. I commend GIMUN’s commitment to bringing together young minds and perspectives motivated by the principles and values of the United Nations.

United Nations Day is always a good opportunity to reflect on the ideals and values of the United Nations Charter. Some may argue that both the Charter and the United Nations are outdated. I think that to the contrary, the Charter and our Organization have only grown more relevant in the past 72 years. Peace and security, the respect and promotion of human rights, development, social progress and equality are all even more important in today’s interconnected and rapidly changing world.

But our relevance as an organization is certainly being questioned. The UN was founded after the Second World War with the objective to stop and prevent future wars and to provide a space for dialogue between countries. Globally, the UN has contributed to decades of relative peace and well-being. In the history of humanity, we are at our best now despite the dire situation in many places. On average, people now live longer, eat better, are healthier and better educated. Even so, our interventions were not always successful and we still face many challenges. We now recognise that the nature of conflicts and global challenges has evolved since 1945. The UN has largely failed to adjust its structures and tools to today’s challenges. We are still addressing today’s problems with yesterday’s tools. Today, we are confronted with complex and highly interconnected global challenges.

That is why the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has embarked on a number of ambitious reforms of the United Nations organization in an effort to make it nimble, more effective, flexible, efficient and relevant in today’s world. The overarching priority is to strengthen prevention of armed conflicts, natural disasters and other threats that undermine the well-being of the world population. A comprehensive approach to prevention, which brings together the three pillars of action – peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights – will be crucial.

Some of the Secretary-General’s reform projects are well advanced, including the strategy to end sexual exploitation and abuse, and the greater gender parity policy in the UN. The Secretary-General is also focusing on how to better protect whistle-blowers and to strengthen the coordination of the numerous counter-terrorism structures of the United Nations. The reforms of the peace and security structures as well as the development system are currently being discussed with a view of making these two crucial pillars of the UN architecture much more field-focused, well-coordinated and accountable. Much stronger horizontal cooperation across sectors is crucial, in particular with regard to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To underpin these efforts, the Secretary-General is also pursuing an internal management reform to simplify procedures, decentralize decisions, reduce duplicative structures and overlapping mandates, increase support for the field, and reform the planning and budgetary processes. His proposals envisage greater transparency, efficiency and accountability in order to better support the organization’s normative and operational activities.

Preceding these reforms, over the last two years, the international community adopted several policy frameworks that will shape international cooperation in the coming years under the umbrella of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As we enter the third year of the implementation phase of the Sustainable Development Goals, the focus of today’s event on the linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals and human rights is timely and very relevant.

Through the UN Charter, the peoples of the United Nations pledged “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” This commitment in the text of the Charter comes before references to peace and security, and to development. Human rights were placed in the preamble of the UN Charter as a starting point and as a necessary condition for making durable peace and success in development possible.

The global roadmap provided by the Agenda 2030 is unequivocally anchored in human rights, ultimately recognizing their necessity for achieving sustainable development. Every single Goal is premised on a foundation of human rights. That is why there is no separate Goal on human rights, but references to human rights run as a common thread throughout the text. The 2030 Agenda aims to “realize the human rights of all”, and its 169 targets are closely aligned with human rights standards. For example, Goal 8 on decent work includes a target on the prohibition of child labor. Goal 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies also covers many dimensions of civil and political rights, including personal security and access to justice. Striving to leave nobody behind, the Agenda not only gives special attention to the most vulnerable members of society, but covers a wide range of issues that effectively mirror the human rights framework and simultaneously considers economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, as well as the right to development. It is an immense achievement that such an all-encompassing, human rights-based roadmap has been agreed upon by leaders of all countries.

Although the implementation of the SDGs has just begun, the rate of progress in many areas is far slower than required if we plan to meet our targets by 2030. More work needs to be done to eliminate poverty, as well as to increase food and water security, and to bring quality education within everyone’s reach. We must accelerate our efforts towards achieving gender equality and greater representation of women at all levels, and to tackle youth unemployment rates. More investment is needed in sustainable energy and infrastructure, in addressing air pollution as a health hazard in cities, and in slowing down planetary warming. These are just a few examples of what is on our plate. But we can do it. Just think about the progress achieved through the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Global poverty has been reduced by half, and the proportion of people living in absolute poverty has fallen dramatically. Infant mortality has been cut in half, and the enrolment in primary education in developing regions reached 91 per cent in 2015.

Our priority now is to continue to help mobilizing action that will support the implementation of the SDGs. No Government, organization or company can handle it on its own. The successful implementation of SDGs relies heavily on the cooperation and contributions of a vast array of stakeholders, including private sector, philanthropies, academia, civil society and every single individual. Geneva is well very well placed to help mobilize these actors.

International Geneva is the operational hub of the United Nations and the international system focusing on global issues like health, labour, human rights, humanitarian action and disaster relief, intellectual property, trade and development, disarmament, science and technology as well as research and training. With over 100 UN entities and international organizations, 178 States representations, over 400 non-governmental organizations, 1,000 multinationals as well as academic institutions, think tanks and private sector, International Geneva is a diverse ecosystem of actors that are focused on delivering the 2030 Agenda. I am pleased that you will engage in dialogue today with the Director of the SDG Lab in my office. The SDG Lab is a multi-stakeholder initiative that supports Geneva-based actors in their input to the Agenda 2030 and in the implementation of the 17 Goals by leveraging their expertise and knowledge into policy, practice and action.

GIMUN, which is an integral part of the International Geneva ecosystem, plays a crucial role in engaging young people in tackling the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

I am fully conscious that all of you in this room today are here because you want to be a part of transforming our world into a better place for all. Your engagement will equip you with relevant tools and practical skills for becoming the responsible and efficient leaders of tomorrow. I encourage you to be a part of the change, to look around and identify what you can do as civil society actors, as students, as individuals. Spread the word, get involved, and take action.

To help you with ideas of what you can do, on the tables you have a booklet called “170 daily actions to transform our world”, which proposes 10 daily actions per Goal that everybody can do. Turning off your tap when brushing your teeth, taking re-usable bags to the store, or raising awareness about issues such as gender inequality, hunger or global warming, - adopting SDG-friendly attitudes starts with small actions that ultimately make a big difference. Your commitment and engagement are amongst the most valuable tools we have to shape the world of tomorrow.

I will conclude here and open our dialogue.