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“Climate emergency” is the 2019 word of the year, according to the Oxford English dictionary —  and rightfully so. Over the last year, rising emissions and record-breaking events — from hurricanes in the Atlantic to wildfires in Australia — have been met with rising outrage from millions of young people and activists. But how did leaders respond to the growing weight of evidence and demands for change? And are we on track to keep the […]

2019 marked a milestone year in the ambitious global effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Four years after all countries agreed to the framework, the United Nations hosted the first high-level check-in on progress. Government leaders came together to take stock, reinvigorate commitments, and determine the path forward. The gathering elevated and connected actors working on issues across the SDGs. New partnerships were formed, and important initiatives launched. Yet despite the first four

In January 2019, five million women in India formed a 385-mile-long human protest, ensuring the year started with demands for gender equality squarely at the forefront. The year continued with global demands for equal pay, reproductive rights, representation in government, and much more. But while we saw some progress in 2019, it’s clear we need many more than five million people to demand equality and even more loudly. As we enter a new decade, we

2019 was a complex yet rich year for global efforts to advance the health of people everywhere. The fight against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo continued to vex the heroic frontline responders; more measles outbreaks than in decades; ongoing health impacts from increasingly severe climate disasters like Cyclone Idai. Yet 2019 had some remarkable upsides as well, including a landmark and universal global commitment to Universal Health Coverage at the UN General Assembly

It’s been more than four years since 193 countries signed onto the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the heart of that Agenda put forward a roadmap to a better world— of peace and prosperity for all on a thriving planet. In 2020 we start the final Decade of Delivery knowing we are substantially off track to meet the Goals in full and on time. Doing so needs escalated action

The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are currently negotiating the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, scheduled to be completed this October in Kunming, China. As one of the negotiations’ several thematic consultations, the Parties will consider “transparent implementation, monitoring, reporting and review” on February 21-22 in Kunming. The following Policy Brief by UN Foundation Senior Fellow, Sue Biniaz, focuses in particular on “what” a review mechanism should review.   Download PDF: The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity

With 2019 behind us, 2020 is already testing how we work together to address critical challenges at home and across borders. Support for international cooperation hangs in the balance at precisely the moment when robust collaboration is needed most. From promoting climate change and sustainability, to averting conflict within and between nations, to confronting the systemic forces that create unequal societies, in 2020 we must answer the question: How resolved are we to confront the

Memo to World Leaders: Half of your country’s people are subjugated, less visible, and undervalued.  This year begins the final decade to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); it marks 25 years since the UN’s landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing pushed for more progress on girls’ ands women’s rights and equality; and in the U.S., 2020 is the 100th anniversary of women finally earning the right to vote. Despite years of striving,

Here at the UN Foundation, we love to showcase such stories of people we call Protectors of Progress . They are doing what they can to address poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis in their own way and in their own communities. Together, they are driving progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We need many more like them. We all need to become Protectors of Progress. Five years into the SDGs’ 15-year timeline, we