UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva via video message on February 28, 2022. Photo: AFP

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the international community to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and make it a top priority.

"In a world in crisis, rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals is more important than ever," the secretary-general told the UN Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) 2022 Operational Activities for Development Segment, an event held during the 2022 ECOSOC session.

"When we see most of the SDGs moving backwards by the accumulation of crises we are facing, to rescue them must be our highest common priority," the top UN official stressed.

On the impact of COVID-19, Guterres said that the pandemic has led to the loss of some 15 million lives.

"It pushed about 100 million people into poverty in 2020 alone. And it has set back human development, especially women's rights, by a full generation," said the secretary-general.

Guterres said that the pandemic demanded "a united response based on solidarity" between developed and developing countries - but that did not happen.

Speaking about development issues, the UN chief noted that "we are facing a development emergency of global proportions. Governments and people are looking to the United Nations for support through these difficult times."

The secretary-general underscored that "the world is on fire and so far, international cooperation has not delivered for those who need it most."

On development reforms, Guterres said that the benefits of the reforms "must turn into results, at an unprecedented scale, to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals."
"Scaling up will require a shift in our approach - because no agency can deliver this alone."

"We can only mobilize the required level of investments if we combine our United Nations assets to support the transitions needed in food systems, energy and digital connectivity and others," said the secretary-general.

Resident coordinators "will play a key role in enabling the UN development system" to contribute to these transitions, while expanding access to social protection and decent jobs for all, said Guterres.

"These transitions are our entry points for wide-ranging solutions across the entire 2030 Agenda," he said.

"Rescuing the SDGs means rescuing developing economies around the world," he said.

Xinhua