"I am not surprised that I was not approved by the President of the General Assembly to speak. I do not have an uplifting story to tell that makes it possible to believe that poverty can be solved by 'scaling up' skills or credit or growth. Mine is not a story of rags to riches. My story is an unglamorous story of poverty, exploitation, migration and discrimination of millions of women around the world", said Eni [Watch her video address online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-MWuSiDRfY ].
Leave no one behind?
Sara Flounders, who leads International Action Centre and is a noted writer based in the US, said, "The scourge of war and the enormous military expenses are missing from discussions around world's problems. In the period since Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were announced in 2000, US wars have been the greatest source of infrastructural destruction and cause of deaths of millions of refugees."
When the US discusses sustainable development goals and environmental devastation, one thing is always left out of the discussions and that is US militarism. The Pentagon is the world's worst polluter of greenhouse gases and yet it has a blanket exemption in all climate agreements," added Sara.
Paul Quintos, from IBON International and Campaign for People's Goals, wondered why similar promises were being pledged again after 15 years. "The declaration says: Leave no one behind, but in reality people have been, and are being, pushed back," Paul said.
The whole-day event ended with a strong resolve from civil society to engage the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and hold governments accountable to their commitments.
Shobha Shukla, CNS
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