Sustainable Development Goals

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 End poverty in all its forms everywhere

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 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
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Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages 

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Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

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Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 

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Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

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Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all 
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 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation 
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Reduce inequality within and among countries 

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Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 

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Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

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 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 

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 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 
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 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
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 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
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 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
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Sustainable development

Sustainable development is about eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities and promoting sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems as well as sustainableinclusive and equitable economic growthIn a nutshell, it is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  

It is crucial to harmonize three core elements to achieve sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. These elements are inter-connected and all are essential for the well-being of individuals and societies. 

World leaders have committed themselves to this path when they adopted the Sustainable Development Goals at an historic UN Summit in 2015.  

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. More important than ever, the goals provide a critical framework for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The 17 goals, unanimously adopted by 193 countries, set a new universal standard for development which aims to ensure that no one is left behind. The targets and indicators behind the goals provide a benchmark for measuring success. 

Decade of action

At the SDG Summit in September 2019 world leaders called for a Decade of Action and delivery for sustainable development, and pledged to mobilize financing, enhance national implementation and strengthen institutions to achieve the Goals by the target date of 2030, leaving no one behind. 

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The UN Family in Vienna and the SDGs

See what the United Nations family in Vienna is doing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Development: one of the pillars of the United Nations

United Nations development efforts have profoundly affected the lives and well-being of millions of people throughout the world. Guiding the United Nations endeavours is the conviction that lasting international peace and security are possible only if the economic and social well-being of people everywhere is assured. 

The UN's development mandate is laid out already in the preamble of the Charter: "We the peoples of the United Nations determined … to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom …" 

For development to have a long-term positive effect, it must be sustainable. This is about making sure that the earth's resources that we use to promote economic growth will be available to future generations. The threat posed by global climate change is an example of how human freedoms and human development can be eroded when economic growth and development is divorced from environmental concerns. 

<p><sub>Opening of 2023 Session of Economic and Social Council</sub></p>
© UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Opening of 2023 Session of Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the principal body coordinating the economic and social work of the United Nations. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) provides support to the intergovernmental processes on development issues in the General Assembly and in the Economic and Social Council, its functional commissions and expert bodies. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations lead agency on international development, working in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Their work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience. 

The United Nations work in the field of development covers many areas including: the advancement of women; governance and institution-building; international trade; macroeconomics and finance; population; science and technology; social development; human settlement; and energy. The work is coordinated through the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, a body which unites the 37 funds, programmes, agencies, departments and offices that work in development in more than 162 countries.The common objective is to deliver more coherent, effective and efficient support to countries seeking to attain internationally agreed development goals. 

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