Partners Unveil New Website and Plans for Global Goals Week 2017

Organizers today announced plans and unveiled the website for Global Goals Week 2017 – a collective effort to maximize the value of events and activations held during UN General Assembly week and focused on driving progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. This year’s Global Goals Week will be held 16-23 September, with events and activations taking place in New York and around the world, all of which will be connected in social media conversations using the common hash tag #GlobalGoals.Global Goals Week was originally piloted last year by organizing partners Project Everyone, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Foundation. This year, more than a dozen new partners have joined the effort, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Economic Forum, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Skoll Foundation, Concordia, UN Global Compact, and other UN agencies and departments, positioning the week as a strong platform for collective action in support of the SDGs, maximizing the impact of a variety of events, public activations, and digital surges that are all designed to raise awareness and spur progress toward achievement of the global goals.

Global Goals Week events include:

• Hult Prize Awards Ceremony at UN Headquarters (date TBA)
• The Social Good Summit, 17 September
• SDG Media Zone, 18—22 September
• Solutions Summit at UN Headquarters
• United Nations Private Sector Forum, 18 September
• Global Citizen LIVE!, 18 September
• Climate Week Opening Ceremony, 18 September
• Concordia Annual Summit, 18—19 September
• World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit, 18—19 September
• International Conference on Sustainable Development, 18—19 September
• Global Citizen Movement Makers, 19 September
• Global Goals Awards Dinner, 19 September
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers, 20 September
• TED Global NYC, 20 September
• United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit, 21 September
• We the Future, 21 September
• Global Citizen Festival, 23 September

For a full schedule, visit globalgoalsweek.org. The events listing will be updated as new events come online.

Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, said, “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, the ambitious plan adopted by world leaders in 2015, is a promise for people and planet, that requires concerted action across all sectors. The vision of Global Goals Week is to ensure continued attention and momentum for the SDGs at the highest levels and to inspire unique partnerships and collaboration across all sectors.  These events will help spur partnerships and your action in support of delivering the SDGs on the ground.”

Richard Curtis, Writer, Campaigner, and Project Everyone Founder, said, “We’ve got under 5,000 days left to reach the Global Goals – and that can’t be done unless we continue to press world leaders to keep their promises and inspire people all over the world to act. All of the activities during UNGA remind leaders of their promises, energize today’s excellent activist generation, and puts the long-term optimistic, practical vision of the Goals in the spotlight – the definitive plan to end extreme poverty, fight injustice and inequality and defeat climate change.”

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said, “Global Goals Week is an opportunity both to celebrate the Sustainable Development Goals and progress made so far toward achieving them, as well as to look to the future and all the work that still needs to be done. UNDP stands ready to continue that work on this very ambitious, but achievable, agenda.”

Kathy Calvin, President & CEO of the UN Foundation, said, “The Sustainable Development Goals present both a bold vision for a better future and a challenge for collective action to achieve the goals. Global Goals Week is a response to that challenge – creating opportunities for partners to work together to drive change.”

For more information, including how to participate in Global Goals Week, see globalgoalsweek.org. To participate in the social media conversation, use the hashtag #GlobalGoals.

About Project Everyone

Project Everyone seeks to put the power of great communications behind The Global Goals for Sustainable Development, accelerating the creation of a fairer world by 2030, where extreme poverty has been eradicated, climate change is properly addressed and injustice and inequality are unacceptable.

Their mission is to ensure that everyone on the planet knows what The Global Goals for Sustainable Development are, so that they stand the greatest chance of being achieved. The assumption at the heart of this project is that if people know about the goals they can hold their governments, businesses, local and international institutions to account.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: www.unfoundation.org.