Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava provides a vision for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development from the vantage point of his work as President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
I’ve spent most of my life in Africa, in a region deeply impacted by poverty but constantly surprising in its ability to adapt and innovate. It is a continent that has seen great progress, yet for a variety of reasons still has far to go to realise its limitless potential. It had been hoped that the Millennium Development Goals – a globally agreed plan of action for reducing poverty – would be achieved by the intended deadline of 2015. Still, while they did focus international attention on key areas, many of the goals were not met in many areas of the world. However, with a change in mindset and strong political commitment, I am convinced that the international community will succeed in improving the lives of people living in poverty and generating economic growth.
This optimism stems from the historic agreements we witnessed in 2015 at the Sendai Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in March, the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in July, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September, and the Paris Climate Change Conference in December. At the Sustainable Development Summit, leaders from around the world agreed to take new, concrete actions towards poverty eradication and sustainable development by 2030. The resulting roadmap, with its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflects the best of our collective ambitions to make the world a better place for all…
Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava
President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
