“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an agenda of hope for the hopeless: an agenda to fight poverty and injustice: an agenda that we hope will narrow the gap between the few millions that live in prosperity and the billions that live in poverty”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon. Speaking at the Sustainable Development Summit, being held during the High Level Segment of the seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly, Minister Dunya described the adoption of the 2030 Agenda as a “watershed moment in human history”.
Minister Dunya described the Government’s development vision as “inclusive and holistic”, with a focus on empowering the youth, including young women. The Maldives’ vision aims to make Maldives a “resilient, economically diverse, high-income economy”, she noted. Despite the challenges that the Maldives which is a Small Island Developing State, and a Middle Income Country face, “we aim high and dream big”, she noted.
Minister Dunya also noted that it is upto the international community to give meaning to the words of the Agenda, through a commitment to implementation. She called on the international community to make the 2030 Agenda a reality, “for the future of our people, and our common home”.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals were adopted on 25 September 2015. The sustainable development goals contained within the 2030 Agenda were collectively determined after almost three years of global consultations and comprehensive negotiations with representation from all global groupings. As the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) this year, the Maldives has engaged extensively in representing the interests of 44 Small Island and low-lying coastal countries.
