UAE to take part in UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015

The United Arab Emirates will participate in the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015, which will be held as a part of the United Nations General Assembly activities on Friday in New York, in the presence of a high-level UAE official delegation.

The UAE speech, to be delivered by Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development, Head of the UAE Committee for the Coordination of Humanitarian Foreign Aid, will reflect the efforts undertaken by the UAE to implement the "Millennium Development Goals" and emphasise UAE commitment in joining the world in achieving the new agenda.

The UAE's participation in the summit sessions that will take place over three days between 25-27 September comes on the sidelines of the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 70) which closes on 6 October.

The UAE will shed light on their contributions to the development of a global strategy to achieve sustainable development goals, the achievement of international leadership indicators, given that it has exceeded the global ratio target of official development assistance per GNI in 2013 and 2014, becoming the number one country in the world in terms of generosity in proportion to the gross national income, based on date presented by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The state delegation will discuss efforts to achieve the goals set in the "Development Plan 2030" by enabling access to clean energy, adequate and affordable food, and high quality education and health care, as well as to achieve sustainable economic growth, maintain sound environmental regulations, and increase the effectiveness of resources.

In this context, the state's participation in this summit comes to emphasise the significant role played by the UAE and the tireless efforts to address the pressing global issues that include food security, climate change, water scarcity, and infrastructure development, in line with the state's commitment to supporting the United Nations in its efforts to achieve the "Millennium Development Goals" by 2015.

The 193 country members of the United Nations approved last August an ambitious plan entitled "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," a roadmap to end poverty in the world and build a decent life for all without exclusion within the next 15 years.

The plan includes 17 sustainable development goals, detailed in 169 items, most notably, "the eradication of poverty in all its forms and in the world", while the remaining goals range between promoting quality health care and education, reducing differences, and achieving gender equality.

The plan also includes a pledge by member states to take "urgent measures to combat" climate change, in particular through reaching an agreement during the climate conference scheduled to be held in Paris at the end of November.