UN Announces New Sustainable Development Network led by @JeffDSachs to help solve global problems #MDG #SDSN @earthinstitute

Posted: August 10, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Columbia University, Earth Institute, Jeffrey Sachs, MDG, Millenium Development Goals, RIO+20, SDSN, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, UN, United Nations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

9 August 2012

Prof.  Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute and Special Advisor to the Secretary‐General on the Millenium Development Goals, to lead new  Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today launched a new independent global network of research centres, universities and technical institutions to help find solutions for some of the world’s most pressing environmental, social and economic problems.
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The Sustainable Development Solutions Network will work with stakeholders including business, civil society, UN agencies and other international organizations to identify and share the best pathways to achieve sustainable development.This initiative is part of the work undertaken in response to the mandate on post-2015 and the outcome of UN Conference on Sustainable Development , which took place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in June. (Rio+20)
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The Solutions Network will be directed by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to Secretary-General Ban on the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals. It will operate in close coordination with the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
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“The post-2015 objectives will help the world to focus on the vital challenges of sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network will be an innovative way to draw upon worldwide expertise in the campuses, universities, scientific research centres and business technology divisions around the world,” Mr. Ban said.
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The High-level Panel will advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, the target date for achieving the MDGs, and it will hold its first meeting at the end of September, in the margins of the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly. It is expected to submit its findings to the Secretary-General in the first half of 2013, and those findings will inform his report to Member States.
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The eight MDGs, agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a ‘Global Partnership for Development.’
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According to the news release, given that politics around the world too often focuses on short-term issues while governments often lack the timely information needed for long-term sustainable-development strategies, it is essential that scientists and technology experts outside of government support the development of long-term analyses, demonstration programmes and development pathways.
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The SDSN is expected to provide an independent global, open and inclusive process to support and scale up problem-solving at local, national and global levels.“In the 20 years since the first Rio Earth Summit, the world has largely failed to address some of the most serious environmental and social problems pressing in on us,” Mr. Sachs said. “We can’t afford business as usual. We need to engage the academic and scientific community, and tap into worldwide technological know-how in the private sector and civil society, in order to develop and implement practical solutions.”

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Substantial emphasis will be placed on collaboration across countries to analyze common problems and learn from each other’s experiences. The network will accelerate joint learning and help to overcome the compartmentalization of technical and policy work by promoting integrated “systems” approaches to addressing the complex economic, social and environmental challenges confronting governments.

UN News Centre 

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Rio+20 Legacy: Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon’s #ZeroHungerChallenge for a future without hunger! @zerohungerchall

Posted: July 5, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: activist, Ban Ki-moon, challenge, Environment, RIO+20, Secretary-General, United Nations, United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, zero hunger | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the UN News Centre: Rio+20: Secretary-General challenges nations to achieve ‘zero hunger’

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Visit the UN’s Zero Hunger Challenge Website

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the ‘Zero Hunger Challenge’ at Rio+20, where all countries were invited to work for a future where every individual has adequate nutrition and where all food systems are resilient.

“In a world of plenty, no one – not a single person – should go hungry,” Mr. Ban said during the launch of the initiative at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday night. “I invite all of you to join me in working for a future without hunger.”

“Zero hunger would boost economic growth, reduce poverty and safeguard the environment. It would foster peace and stability,” Mr. Ban added, calling on farmers, business people, scientists, civil society and consumers to join the challenge by honouring past promises and work together to put an end to hunger.

Rio+20 has delivered a pretty good text for farmers; now it’s up to governments

Rio+20 has delivered a pretty good text for farmers; now it’s up to governments and agencies to act on these words, and put into place the financial commitments and practical policies that can truly deliver. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT)
by Vanessa Meadu

The ‘Zero Hunger Challenge’ has five main objectives: to achieve 100 per cent access to adequate food all year round; to end malnutrition in pregnancy and early childhood; to make all food systems sustainable; to increase growth in the productivity and income of smallholders, particularly women; and to achieve a zero rate of food waste.

Inspiration for the initiative came from work being carried out by many countries and organizations to end hunger, including Brazil.

The ‘Zero Hunger Challenge’ is supported by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank and Bioversity International.

“Big problems call for bold goals. The Zero Hunger Challenge can help us mobilize political commitment, the first step to eradicate hunger,” said FAO’s Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, said at a high-level meeting in Rio de Janeiro today. “This is a personal challenge from the Secretary-General, but one that all of us should answer, as individuals and collectively. FAO embraces this challenge of a Zero Hunger World.

More than 40,000 people – including heads of State and government, parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, business and civil society leaders – are attending Rio+20, which ends on Friday. It seeks to shape new policies to promote global prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.

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Photo: IRIN/Siegfried Modola – UN News Centre

Follow Zero Hunger Challenge on Twitter

Visit the UN’s Zero Hunger Challenge Website

Rio+20: Sustainable Development Through Education with Kenneth Chimese

Posted: July 2, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Kenneth Chimese, RIO+20, Sustainable Development | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

CHATTING EDUCATION with KENNETH CHIMESE
THE world focus was recently on Rio de Janeiro in Brazil as leaders of countries of the world met to consider the topical issues of sustainable development and propose ways in which life can be made better for all people on the planet.

The Rio+20 conference had the challenge of how the leaders can come up with ideas on how to reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet, guaranteeing a desirable future…………………… For, when a society is given the right kind of education, such a society will embrace the ideals of sustainable development with full understanding, and advance society’s own economic and social development agenda through sustainable means, using its resources efficiently and sustainably.

Full article here 

Contact Kenneth Chimese at kennethchimese@yahoo.co.uk or sms 0966902506