Priyanka Chopra Jonas has delivered a powerful opening speech on the importance of global solidarity during her appearance at the 2022 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Moment at the United Nations General Assembly.
What is that exactly? It’s an annual event that puts the spotlight on the world’s “To Do List” and gives leaders a platform to share the actions they’re taking towards achieving the 17 goals outlined by the UN including ending hunger and poverty, tackling the climate crisis and ensuring all people enjoy peace – all by the year 2030… which is only 8 years away.
“We meet today at a critical point in our world, at a time when global solidarity is more important than ever,” the Quantico star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador said. “As countries continue to struggle from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the climate crisis upends lives and livelihoods, as conflicts rage and as poverty displacement, hunger and inequalities destroy the very foundation of the more just world that we have fought for such a long time.”
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“We owe it to our people, we owe it to our planet. We all deserve a just, safe and healthy world to live in,” she continues.
The Sustainable Development Goals were established in 2015 with a 15-year plan to achieve them.
“But time is running out,” Priyanka emphasised. “We are nearly halfway to the 2030 deadline…. So, today is about action, it’s about ambition, but it is also about hope. It is about what we must do together to make the SDGs a reality.”
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Priyanka also attended the UN’s Transforming Education Summit. Sharing photos from both events on Instagram, she writes:
“It’s hard to believe that early 2/3 of children across the low, middle and high income countries cannot read and comprehend a simple story. The system has failed them. As the US Secretary of Education (Secretary Miguel Cardona) put it so candidly, education is the great equaliser, but if we continue to do what we have done, we are going to get what we have gotten. We owe every child this basic birthright, an equal chance to learn and reach their full potential.”
Also in attendance at the event was girls’ education advocate Malala Yousafzai and poet Amanda Gorman.
(Feature Image Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock)