DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

Are you an SDG changemaker? Share your good practices!

Three years into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, governments, UN entities, civil society organizations and companies around the world are taking unprecedented steps to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and build a better world for all. To achieve the 17 global goals by 2030, we need even more action, faster. To help stakeholders… Read more ›

Call to revitalize ‘language of the ancestors’ for survival of future generations: Indigenous chief

Hundreds of ancestral languages have gone silent in recent generations, taking with them the culture, knowledge and traditions of the people who spoke them. To preserve and revitalize those that remain, the United Nations on Friday officially launched the International Year of Indigenous Languages, at UN Headquarters in New York. Delivering inaugural remarks, Kanen’tó:kon Hemlock,… Read more ›

Hooked on carbon – how can we break the habit?

UN DESA’s latest World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report could not be any clearer: the global transition to cleaner energy is not happening fast enough. After three years of remaining flat, energy-related carbon emissions picked up again in 2017, reaching a new historic high, and preliminary evidence suggests that this worrisome record will be crushed again… Read more ›

More than words: International year kicks off to protect indigenous languages

Languages play a crucial role in our daily lives. They also make up our unique cultural identities. Yet, of the about 6,700 languages spoken in the world today, 40 percent are at risk of disappearing. Most of them are indigenous languages. And when a language dies, it can mean the end of a community’s values… Read more ›

Signs suggest global economic growth spurt has peaked but will remain steady at 3 percent in 2019–2020

The global economy will continue to grow at a steady pace of around 3 percent in 2019 and 2020 amid signs that global growth has peaked. However, a worrisome combination of development challenges could further undermine growth, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019, which was launched today. Read more ›

UN DESA launches its definitive report on the shape of the world economy

This Monday will see the launch of the UN DESA’s World Economic Situation and Prospects report for 2019. Produced by UN DESA every year, the report takes the temperature of the global economy and analyses its impact on our chances to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report also looks into the planet’s social… Read more ›

Global financial institutions pledge their support in a critical year for SDGs

In a meeting with the UN Under-Secretary-General and head of UN DESA, Liu Zhenmin, in Washington, D.C., this week, leaders of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) committed to supporting UN DESA in this momentous year for sustainable development. The year 2019 is a critical milestone for our global goals to end poverty,… Read more ›

We need more urgency to achieve the 2030 Agenda’s promise to the world’s people, Human Rights Council told