The SDG Summit (18-19 September, New York) will be held during the United Nations General Assembly high-level week, marking the half-way point in the implementation of Agenda 2030 and aiming to carry out a comprehensive review of the state of the SDGs and respond to the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world. 

The UN Secretary General has raised the alarm in this year’s report on the Sustainable Development Goals on the pace of achievement of the SDGs. “Unless we act now,” he emphasizes, “the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been.”  

On SDG 16, we see that progress on violence reduction, access to justice, inclusive governance and peaceful societies is stagnating or in reversal. We also are seeing incredible innovations in the areas of digitalization, youth climate justice action and global advocacy.

The Global SDG 16 Coalition has issued a joint statement inviting the international community to recommit to the 2030 Agenda, invest in SDG 16+ interlinkages and quality data, tackle financing for SDG 16+ and continue to invest in partnerships.  Halfway through the 2030 Agenda, advancing peace, justice, equality and inclusion (SDG16+), as a matter of political and financial priority, is critical. The 2023 SDG Summit presents a crucial opportunity for the international community to accelerate the SDGs, and SDG16 and to ensure no one is left behind.