22 December 2014
Ban Ki-moon: ‘we must be firm in our commitment to champion solidarity and shared responsibility as part of the sustainable development agenda’
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked Human Solidarity Day by calling for joint action to craft and take forward a new, inclusive development agenda that eradicates poverty, protects the planet and ensures dignity for all.
In his message on the International Day, Mr. Ban said this year’s observance comes as the world shapes a new sustainable development agenda to succeed the Millennium Development Goals, the largest anti-poverty campaign in history, by 2015. The new agenda ‘will be built on a foundation of global cooperation and solidarity’, he said. He added that the UN believes that solidarity with people affected by poverty and an absence of human rights is vital, based on equality, inclusion and social justice, solidarity implies a mutual obligation across the global community.
‘As we map our future development path, we must be firm in our commitment to champion solidarity and shared responsibility as part of the sustainable development agenda. These are fundamental values that must be upheld’, Ban Ki-moon said. Only through collective action could the world tackle such far reaching issues as poverty and growing inequality, climate change, chronic poverty and major health challenges, such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Source: UN News Centre | On International Day, Ban urges human solidarity to build new sustainability agenda