UN Theme Week 2019

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Students, global citizens, UN supporters,

Thank you for inviting me to join you at the opening of UN Theme Week. 

As some of you may have noticed, I talk a lot about the Sustainable Development Goals – the SDGs.

Promoting our multilateral system and the SDGs is an important part of my agenda when I travel to other parts of the world.

And I find that one of the most effective ways of doing this is to engage with young people.
For example, playing football for the Global Goals in a South African township.

Meeting girls who are fighting for equality in schools in India.

Talking to female tech entrepreneurs in Addis Ababa who are creating industries for the future.

And supporting inspiring movements like Global Citizen and Project Everyone.

Because meeting young people who are serious about creating the world they want gives me energy.

And hope.

However, it’s not too often that I get the chance to promote our multilateral system and the SDGs here at home.

So, thank you for this opportunity.

 

I will start by saying the same thing I say to your peers in other parts of the world.

The tasks your generation is facing are formidable.

The world expects you to end hunger. To cure major diseases.

To get a good education. And to save our oceans and our climate.

The good news is that there is a clear roadmap to guide our – and your – efforts.

That roadmap is Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

These goals were adopted in 2015 by 193 state leaders at the UN in New York.

They address everything from poverty eradication and peace and security issues, to climate change.

 

What makes this agenda different from other international efforts is that the whole world owns it together.

It is not a traditional development agenda.

It is not a set of guidelines for rich countries to help poor countries.

When it comes to the global goals, we are all developing nations. We all have a job to do.

Both in our own countries.

And, collectively, at the global level.

 

The SDGs have the potential to change everyday life for everyone, regardless of where they live.

We have set ourselves an ambitious task.  

To transform poverty into prosperity; inequality into equity; oppression into freedom; and marginalisation into opportunities for all.
The world is facing severe challenges that we can, and must, turn into opportunities.

And this shift has already started.

 

The digital revolution is global, and is already transforming our lives.

Climate change is compelling us to innovate, and to develop new industries.
This in turn will create new jobs and trigger further change.

You will be at the forefront of these changes, and the private sector will follow your lead.

One thing is certain: 

Status quo is no longer an option.

If we want to sustain our growth and welfare, we must think and act differently.

I believe you are more aware of this fact than any previous generation. 
For example, more than 400 students showed up at the SDG conference at the University of Bergen last month, together with 300 external participants.

Their message was clear: Change must come now!

My impression is that more and more people across the world are hearing this message.

In South Africa, students like yourselves have inspired the Government to invest heavily in girls’ health and education.

 

In the US, a young congresswoman is advocating for a Green New Deal to address climate change and economic inequality.

Across the globe, more and more business leaders are committing time and money to achieving the SDGs.
And in the last couple of years, thousands of young people have applied to the UN to join the Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals initiative.

These are just some examples of the global momentum that is increasing day by day.

A momentum led by young people like you.

 

If you succeed, it will not be the first time students and young people have changed the world.
It was a student uprising in Soweto that marked the beginning of the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Students led the Velvet Revolution that ended communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989.

And students were instrumental in putting an end to military dictatorships in Latin America.

But despite all this, the hard truth is that the world is not on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

 

We need your enthusiasm to speed up progress.

We need your readiness to use new technologies.

We need you to lead the digital revolution forward.

And we need your conviction that change is possible.

Let me therefore urge you to bring the SDG Agenda with you into your classrooms and research programmes.
It is also important to remember that the goals are interlinked.

Progress on one goal depends on progress on other goals.

For example, health and education, particularly for girls, is an area where we can make very smart investments.

 

Improving health services and national health systems is the best way to make life easier and better for individuals, for families and for entire communities.

Investing in the health of women, especially girls, gives results.
And investing in other sectors, such as education, can have a major impact on health.

We know that educated girls have healthier children, and have better chances of sending their children to school.

And they are in a better position to make a living for themselves.

We know that a healthy population is a productive population. Increased health investments translate directly into economic growth.

This is why the Norwegian Government invests more than half a billion dollars in global health every year.

Because in the long run, good health is good business.

For all of us.

However, the largest obstacle to progress is conflict and instability.

Young people in conflict areas face the greatest risk of being left behind as the world moves forward.

Young people are all too often at the frontline – as casualties, as unwilling soldiers, or as victims exploited by violent extremist groups.

Too many are deprived of their rights to health and education because of conflicts.

But, young men and women are also among our most effective peacebuilders.
UN Security Council resolution 2250, the first ever on youth, peace and security, is a historic recognition of the importance of young peacebuilders.

It is crucial to keep up the momentum created by the resolution, and to support young peacebuilders in a common, global effort.

This is a core task of the United Nations, and will be a key theme for Norway if we are elected to the Security Council in two years’ time.    

Dear students,

I started by saying that meeting young, engaged people like you gives me hope.

Hope, however, is not a strategy.

Hope will not end hunger or combat disease.

Hope will not educate children or end conflicts.

Leadership and hard work will.
With your commitment and participation, I believe we stand a better chance than ever to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

I am counting on you.

Thank you.