Outgoing UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson speaks during a press conference in New York Sept. 8, 2017. Thomson said on Friday that raising awareness of the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is vitally important to their success. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Outgoing UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson said Friday that raising awareness about the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is vitally important to their success.
"I have written to all heads of government asking them to get the SDGs taught in every school in the world. I have also written to heads of 4,000 universities asking them to do the same," said Thomson, who is going to finish his one-year tenure in office and step down from the presidency next week when the 72nd session of the General Assembly kicks off.
Thomson told Xinhua that "lack of awareness" would be one of the biggest obstacles hindering the implementation of the SDGs, adding that "we all have to change the way we are doing things."
An informal General Assembly meeting on taking stock of SDGs actions was held at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday.
"We met today with member states to basically account for what has been done in the 71st session, assess the progress and look at what needs to be done," he said, noting that he was happy with the result of the assessment.
"I think people feel happy with the movement forward," he said.
However, the president said citizens in many countries are still unaware of the urgency of the timetable for implementing the SDGs.
He said people have to transform their behavior and the system to "make this world more sustainable because if we carry on the way into the 21st century without bringing that sustainability, our children and grandchildren will be in trouble," he noted.
Speaking at his concluding press conference, Thomson said:" We need greater momentum and we need to scale it up."
"We've only got 13 years left. Time is not on our side," he said, urging better coordination between the public and private sectors to achieve the goals on time or even ahead of schedule.
On Sept. 25, 2015, countries adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.
While showing some concern about the low awareness among some people about the SDGs, Thomson expressed his confidence that the goals could be obtained.
"We have the resources to do the 2030 agenda to its fullest extent. I have no doubt this is within the humanity's ability," he said.
"We have the resources. We have the ingenuity. All we need is better coordination," he noted.
"We need to do a better job in partnership. The UN system has a big role to play in this regard, not just in implementation on the country levels, but we have our army of people in the field and almost every country in the world," the president stressed.
"I place great faith in young people in terms of the implementation of the 2030 SDGs," he concluded.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed also called for picking up the pace to ensure the 2030 deadline is met.
"The SDGs have jumped from the General Assembly Hall to communities across the world," Mohammed said at the informal General Assembly meeting.
She said the persistence of poverty in particular remains the main challenge and that tackling gender equality and the use of new technologies should be leveraged to tackle this issue.
She also highlighted the importance of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change for the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Mohammed also underscored the potential of the 2030 agenda for a more prosperous and peaceful world and said that its success depends on the active engagement of all actors.
