Amina Mohammed: Eradication of poverty is very urgent

The entire global community must approach poverty eradication with a sense of urgency, Amina Mohammed, deputy UN secretary-general, has said.

Mohammed, in her message to the three-day 2017 integration segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), said that eradicating poverty remained the greatest global challenge.

She called for a collective and comprehensive approach that recognises the multidimensional nature of the issue and its interaction with other aspects.

“Addressing poverty, inequality, climate change, food insecurity and a sluggish and unpredictable global economy requires integrated responses and engagement by all actors.

“It is also an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.”

She highlighted the importance of broad partnerships and building synergies across all dimensions of poverty eradication and sustainable development.

She added that different sectors of the economy at national levels needed to address the complex interlinkages.

The deputy UN scribe noted that the first sustainable development goal (SDG) is to end poverty in all its forms and everywhere.

She added that such efforts also provided an opportunity to gauge how national approaches and the recently adopted SDG indicator framework could support each other in advancing integrated implementation and reviewing progress.

“We need options that will enable policy makers at the global, regional and national levels to foster coherent and integrated approaches to poverty eradication.

“Expectations are very high and now is the time. We have a collective responsibility to deliver results at the country level,” she said.

Also speaking at the opening, Nabeel Munir, the vice-president of ECOSOC, underscored the importance of integrated policy frameworks, given the interconnected nature of sustainable development — the economic, social and environmental dimensions.

“The interlinkages between the different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we have defined to achieve our common vision are explicit, unveiling potential synergies and trade-offs.

“This underlines the importance of integrated policy frameworks for the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“It also underlines the significance of this Integration Segment and the discussions that will take place in the context of the 2017 session of the Economic and Social Council’s work,” Munir said.

The 2017 integration segment of ECOSOC brings together key stakeholders to discuss and identify opportunities and challenges in developing integrated approaches to tackle poverty in a sustained, inclusive and sustainable manner.

The session will also focus on least developed countries.

The 2017 meeting will also consider best practices, lessons learned and recommendations at the national, regional and international levels.

This is with a view to extracting policy recommendations to guide integrated policy making for poverty eradication as an integral part of the 2030 agenda.

Discussions and outcomes from the integration segment will feed into the high-level segment of ECOSOC as well as into the high-level political forum on sustainable development.