4 October 2012
Deputy Secretary-General Reflects on UNGA’s Opening Week
story highlights

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said the situation in Syria, Palestine, the rule of law, nuclear disarmament and climate change were recurrent themes in the High-level Debate of the 67th General Assembly.

Underlining the effort of the Secretary-General to create partnerships, Elisasson cited the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative and growing relationship between the UN and the World Bank.

2 October 2012: Addressing a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 2 October 2012, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson reflected on the first 10 days of the 67th UN General Assembly (UNGA). Regarding the High-level Debate, he said the situation in Syria, Palestine, the rule of law, nuclear disarmament and climate change were recurrent themes.

On development issues, Eliasson highlighted a meeting of the UN Secretary-General’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Advocacy Group, co-chaired by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He also noted: the upcoming establishment of a Working Group to develop the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); discussions on the post-2015 development agenda; and the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which started its work last week.

He said that while discussing the SDGs, “we should never forget that we have still work to do” on the MDGs, and urged more progress. In particular, he said that on sanitation, ” it is almost scandalous that so little is going to be achieved” by 2015.

Underlining the effort of the Secretary-General to create partnerships, Elisasson cited the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative and growing relationship between the UN and the World Bank. [UN Press Release] [Webcast] [Transcript of Press Conference]


related events


related posts