Global Goals Week is a shared commitment between a coalition of over 160 partners across all industries, which mobilizes annually in September to bring together communities, demand urgency, and supercharge solutions for the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

(SDGs). It was founded in 2016 by the

United Nations Foundation The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turn ...

, Project Everyone, and the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP). It is timed to coincide with the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

"High-Level Week" in New York. The week includes events, summits, conferences, forums, workshops, pledges, and other activations in New York, around the world, and online. It usually runs alongside

Climate Week NYC Climate Week NYC is a charity event that takes place in New York City every year. Its purpose is to promote climate action by appealing to "business leaders, political change makers, local decision takers and civil society representatives". Clima ...

, the annual conference of Goalkeepers (Gates Foundation), Bloomberg Global Business Forum and many other high-level events.

History

Young delegates at the UN Youth Climate Summit 2019

Global Goals Week is an annual week of action that first took place in 2016. It was piloted by core partners Project Everyone, the

(UNDP), and the

. The core partners have now expanded to include the

United Nations Department of Global Communications The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (prior to 1 January 2019, the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and ...

, the UN SDG Strategy Hub, the UN SDG Action Campaign, and Action for Sustainable Development.

Structure

Global Goals Week is scheduled to coincide with the main annual meetings that take place during the

. The week highlights a shared commitment between over 160 partners across civil society, business, academia, and the UN system, to accelerate action on the SDGs, particularly during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. Together, all this helps to reinforce the importance of working together to solve global challenges and achieve the SDGs.

Purpose

The purpose is to organize "action, awareness, and accountability for the

". It is also an opportunity to "speak out as one voice, share ideas and transformative solutions in the fight to build back better from global challenges". It aims to make "the SDG community come together".

Themes and Activities

2024

Global Goals Week 2024 will take place from September 20 to 29.

2023

Global Goals Week 2023 took place from September 15 to 24. To allow partners more flexibility, the calendar was expanded to host events from September 1 to October 15. World leaders gathered in New York for the opening of the 78th session of the General Assembly (UNGA 78) under the theme, “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and the sustainability for all.” The first day of the high-level General Debate was September 19. Heads of State and Government and ministers explored solutions to the intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development. Heads of State and Government also gathered at UN Headquarters in New York on September 18-19 for the 2023 SDG Summit to review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to the target year of 2030 for achieving the Goals.

2022

Global Goals Week 2022 took place from September 16 to 25. To allow partners more flexibility, the calendar was expanded to host events from September 1 to October 15. The seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly opened on 13 September under the theme, "A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges." The theme stems from the recognition that the world is at a critical moment in the history of the United Nations due to complex and interconnected crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, humanitarian challenges of unprecedented nature, a tipping point in climate change as well as growing concerns about threats to the global economy.

2021

Global Goals Week 2021 took place from September 17 to 26. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the calendar was expanded to host events from September 1 to October 15. Events and activations in 2021 were mostly virtual, but also included some in-person events around the world, as well as hybrid ones. Under the theme 'Building Resilience through Hope', and against the background of the COVID pandemic and global insecurity, the 2021 UN General Assembly's opening underscored the need for greater urgency and ambition to end the pandemic and ensure an equitable and

green recovery Green recovery packages are proposed environmental, regulatory, and fiscal reforms to rebuild prosperity in the wake of an economic crisis, such as the COVID-19 recession or the 2008 financial crisis. They pertain to fiscal measures that intend ...

and accelerated implementation of the SDGs.

2020

Global Goals Week 2020 took place from September 18 to 26. It was completely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal was to "cultivate ideas, identify solutions, and build partnerships with the power to solve a wide range of complex global problems from inequality to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

2019

Global Goals Week 2019 took place concurrently with

2019, from September 21 to 28. The theme was: "Action for People and Planet". There were 72 Global Goals Week events, 68 events from the SDG Action Zone, 351 events from Climate Week NYC, and 2981 actions, including events, from the SDG Action Campaign.UN Foundations (2019
Presentation about Global Goals Week in 2019
provided o
website about Global Goals Week
Around 107,000 people attended online and around 30,000 people attended in-person. The week included the events of the UN Summits Week, comprising the UN-Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit, a High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage; the SDG Summit; the 2019 High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development (FfD); and a High-level Review of Progress on SAMOA Pathway. Other events included: * Youth Climate Summit * Social Good Summit * Global Week to Act for SDGs * Private Sector Forum * International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) * Sustainable Development Impact Summit * Equator Prize 2019 Award Ceremony * Bloomberg Global Business Forum * SDG Business Forum * UN Solutions Summit * AI (

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

) Sustainable Development Summit. A range of commitments were announced in 2019. These include financial commitments, partnerships, initiatives and activists. Initiatives included: * The Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation supported the launch of the University Global Compact. * WFP and

Alibaba Group Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba (), is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology company specializing in E-commerce in China, e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzho ...

unveiled "Hunger Map Live", a digital map to track food-security issues across the globe. *

Open Government Partnership The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative aimed at securing commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote open government, combat corruption, and improve governance. The OGP is managed by a steering c ...

's Acceleration Action on its recently launched coalition on justice. *

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

presented innovations in AI to advance the Global Goals and highlighted the work from their Impact Challenge grantees. Activist events included: * Activists and leaders from across all sectors came together at the SDG Action Zone alongside UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed to pledge their commitment to a super year of activism in 2020, to kickstart a Decade of Action for the SDGs. * Trisha Shetty (SheSays) focused on empowering women and girls, ensuring no-one is left behind. * Kennedy Odede (SHOFCO and World Poverty Forum) focused on tackling poverty and reducing inequality, looking ahead to the World Poverty Forum in January, to be held in Kibera, Kenya's biggest slum. *

Kumi Naidoo Kumi Naidoo (born 1965) is a South African Human rights activism, human rights and Climate justice, climate justice activist. He is the current President of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a joint diplomatic and civil socie ...

(Amnesty International) focused on grassroots civil activists whose lives are at risk worldwide. *

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (; born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor. He graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen in 1993, and had his breakthrough role in Denmark with the film ''Nightwatch (1994 film), Night ...

(actor and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador) focused on the power of stories to galvanize movements for change. * SDG Advocates

Alaa Murabit Alaa Murabit M.D. (; born October 1989) is a Libyan-Canadian physician, policy maker, and strategist focused on health, inclusive security, and sustainable development. She created the Voice of Libyan Women at age 21 and played a key role in ad ...

and

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...

called on all sectors and citizens to mobilize in 2020 for the super year of activism ahead. Examples of financial commitments: *

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and the

Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank (, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There are 57 shareholding member st ...

(IsDB) launched an innovative fund that will open new opportunities for Muslim

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

to reach the millions of children currently in need of humanitarian support and help achieve the SDGs. * Mastercard's

Michael Froman Michael Braverman Goodman Froman (born August 20, 1962) is an American lawyer who is the current president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Froman served as the U.S. Trade Representative from 2013 to 2017. He was Assistant to the President ...

and

Global Fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...

Chairman Donald Kaberuka reported on Mastercard's new partnership with Step Up the Fight, a Global Fund initiative that proposes to raise $14 billion by 2023 for the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. Of that $14 billion, the Global Fund is advocating for the private sector to mobilize at least $1 billion to expedite progress toward SDG 3 and universal health coverage. * Colombian President Iván Duque and Howard G. Buffett discussed private capital and public policy levers that can support sustainable peace in Colombia, as well as how the Howard G. Buffett Foundation is elevating its investments in Colombia's agriculture industries in line with the country's peace process.

2018

In 2018, Global Goals Week took place from September 22 to 29. It was termed "the biggest Global Goals Week yet". Its theme was "Let's end poverty, fight inequality, and beat climate change''".'' Events included: * Learning Revolutions: Creating Educational Environments for Empowerment and Inclusion * Global People's Summit * Social Good Summit *

UN Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's ...

Leaders Summit * World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit * SDG Philanthropy Platform Events * 2018 Concordia Annual Summit * Global Day of Action * We the Future: Accelerating Sustainable Development Solutions 2018 * Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers * Sustainable Investment Forum North America * Bloomberg Global Business Forum * One Planet Summit * International Conference on Sustainable Development * The 8th Business Call to Action Annual Forum: Technological Disruption in the World of Inclusive Business

2017

Held from September 16 to 23, Global Goals Week 2017 events included: *

Hult Prize The Hult Prize is an annual competition for ideas solving pressing social issues, such as food security, water access, energy, and education. Named for Bertil Hult, the prize is awarded to college students, and has been referred to as the "Nobel ...

Awards Ceremony * Social Good Summit * SDG Media Zone * Solutions Summit * UN Private Sector Forum * Global Citizen LIVE! * Concordia Annual Summit *

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Sustainable Development Impact Summit * International Conference on Sustainable Development * Global Citizen Movement Makers * Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers * TED Global NYC * UN Global Compact Leaders Summit * We the Future *

Global Citizen Festival The Global Citizen Festival is an annual music festival started in 2012 and organized by Global Poverty Project. It was founded by Ryan Gall and Hugh Evans. Gall said he was inspired by visiting Austin City Limits and seeing the branding on th ...

Climate Week took place at the same time. Trends that emerged from the 2017 Global Goals Week included: "Development through the Trump prism, refugees and migration, humanitarian water-treading, putting business to work (for the SDGs), breaking down siloes, what's next for development and new partnerships, United Nations reform."

Impacts

In 2020, Global Goals Week recorded the following impacts: * 164 events registered, spanning September and October 2020 * 112 partners in the coalition * 63 million people joined online * 17.5 thousand people attended in-person * 2.2 billion social media impressions * Between September 18-26, 2020, Global Goals Week received 527,000 social media engagements * The US, Japan, the UK and India were the top countries reached For Global Goals Week 2019, the following impacts were reported in terms of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

metrics: Reach: 5.8 billion - defined as the total number of unique people who have seen the social media content. An analysis of

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

data was done from 20 September to 2 October 2019 of over 50 different hashtags and Twitter handles. Around 10.8 million posts, shares, hashtags and mentions were tracked from 115 countries in 54 different languages.

References

External links

Official website
{{Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable development Sustainable Development Goals