3 September 2015: The Global Goals campaign was announced in a UN press conference with Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Amina Mohammed, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, and Richard Curtis, filmmaker and founder of the campaign.

The Global Goals campaign is a “collaboration of campaigners, public figures, companies and civil society groups.” It was founded with the aim of making the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “famous” and pushing for their full implementation worldwide. The UN press release notes that the campaign is supported by the action/2015 coalition and Global Citizen, among other social movements and civil society organizations and communities.

The campaign aims to reach seven billion people in the seven days after the SDGs are launched. The campaign’s Project Everyone component – launched in June – seeks to reach all of the planet’s citizens with “short, dynamic and snappy” explanations of the Goals. An animated trailer featuring world leaders depicted as animals has been produced and is expected to appear in movie theaters in over 30 countries, the UN notes.

Speaking on 3 September 2015 at UN Headquarters, Gallach said, “Being famous is absolutely necessary to ensure that [the Goals] are implemented,” noting that Curtis’ “creative products” will help ensure that the Goals are known by everyone.

Mohammed said the post-2015 agenda is about dealing with root causes of problems, such as forced migration, “so that people don’t have to flee their own countries, their own villages, their own homes because they can’t have a life of dignity there.”

In a UN web video and interview with the UN News Centre, Curtis elaborates on the Global Goals campaign, on the aims of Project Everyone, and on the need for a “big opening weekend” to help people realize that the SDGs relate to things they are passionate about – justice, development and climate. He cites the underlying motto of the Campaign – “you can’t fight for your rights if they don’t know what they are” – noting that the SDGs represent a statement of planetary rights. [UN Press Release] [IISD RS Story on Launch of Project Everyone] [Global Goals Website] [UN Video] [UN News Centre Interview]