Gulf News, Monday, September 28, 2015
UAE vows to ‘leave no one
behind’
Country pledges to shift the
world on to a sustainable and resilient path during Sustainable Development
Goals 2015 Summit
Abu Dhabi: The UAE has pledged to “leave no one behind” and to shift the world
on to a sustainable and resilient path.
The pledge came during a speech delivered by Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister
of Development and International Cooperation, on Saturday during her
participation alongside an official delegation in the Sustainable Development
Goals 2015 Summit.
This commitment falls within the UAE’s efforts to implement the Millennium
Development Goals and achieve the targets underlined in the 2030 development
plan launched by the United Nations General Assembly.
The summit was held over three days, between September 25-27, at the UN
headquarters in New York. The UAE’s participation at the summit meetings came on
the sidelines of the 70th Regular Meeting of the United Nations General
Assembly, which closes on October 6.
Shaikha Lubna said the UAE is striving to achieve the targets laid out in the
Sustainable Development Plan 2030, in which access to clean energy, the
provision of food, education, and health care, sustainable economic growth, and
protection of the environment are seen as priority issues by the leadership.
The set of sustainable development goals reflect a new global consensus on what
the world should look like in the next 15 years: a world without poverty, where
citizens enjoy the right to education and health, and a safe world where
communities enjoy well-being and economic prosperity in a sustainable clean
environment.
Shaikha Lubna highlighted success stories in sustainable development achieved by
the UAE, most notably setting targets to increase aspects of the use of clean
energy through the deployment of safe solar and nuclear energy applications; the
diversification of the state’s economy through innovation, research, and
development; and investment in human capital.
“UAE aid has provided support for a number of key areas in the development plan
for 2030, including infrastructure development, the supply of aid to provide
health care and renewable energy, and humanitarian assistance during emergency
times and crises.”
Shaikha Lubna said that achieving the sustainable development goals requires the
provision of a huge amount of resources, whereby the international community
will need to look beyond the traditional means for resource mobilisation, which
the UAE believes is an essential factor to achieve the development plan of 2030.
The 193 member states of the United Nations approved last August an ambitious
plan titled ‘Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development’, a road map aimed at ending poverty in the world and building a
decent life for all without exclusion over the next 15 years.
The plan includes 17 goals for sustainable development, detailed in 169 items,
most notably “the eradication of all forms of poverty in the whole world”, while
the remaining goals range between securing advances health care and education,
reducing disparities, and achieving gender equality.
The plan also includes a pledge by member states to take urgent measures to
combat climate change, in particular through reaching an agreement during the
climate conference scheduled to be held in Paris at the end of November.