The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) of the United Nations and the High-level Segment (HLS) of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations are being held at the UN Headquarters in New York. As a non-governmental organization in special consultative status with ECOSOC, the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC) was invited to submit a written statement, which has been publicly released on the UN website.

The annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is held under the auspices of ECOSOC to discuss progress in the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This 2023 version of the forum opened on July 10 and will conclude on July 19. With the theme “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels,” and with more than 200 official meetings and side events, the forum discusses how to bring the 17 SDGs back on track.

In recent years, the world has undergone significant changes, and progress towards the SDGs is falling behind due to financial, energy, food, and humanitarian setbacks exacerbated by geopolitical tensions. The HLPF takes place at the mid-point in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda, and, focusing on ways to accelerate the global recovery, it will set the grounds for the SDG Summit scheduled for September, said Lachezara Stoeva, president of ECOSOC, when addressing the HLPF’s opening session. Dai Bing, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, said at the HLPF that the international community should work together to overcome difficulties and bring the implementation of the SDGs back on track.

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. (UN Photo/Manuel Elias)

The High-level Segment (HLS) of ECOSOC is held from July 17 to July 20, guided by the theme of the HLPF. The ministerial segment of the HLPF, held from July 17 to July 19, is also a major component of the HLS.

In late April, the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC) submitted a written statement to the HLS on invitation, introducing its own experience in promoting the SDGs and mobilizing the power of youth to promote the SDGs.

It has become a common practice for the HLS to solicit oral and written statements from NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC. Over the years, the IMCC has responded positively and submitted written statements in English in a timely manner, taking advantage of this unique opportunity to make suggestions for issues of critical concern to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to showcase its own classic practical cases, so as to share China’s experience and Shenzhen’s stories with the world.

This year, the organizers of the event compiled and released 103 oral and written statements, basically in the alphabetical order of the names of the NGOs. The written statement by the IMCC (also known as International Mayor Communication Centre Limited) is ranked 46th and appears on Page 40 and Page 41.

The text of the written statement is as follows:

Giving play to the power of youth to promote Sustainable Development Goals

On May 6, 2022, we, International Mayor Communication Centre Limited (also known as the International Mayors Communication Centre), hosted the parallel theme forum “Quality Education” of the United Nations’ seventh Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals. We organized some young people from various universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and entrepreneurial teams, together with a vocational school in Shenzhen, China, to focus on how to revitalize rural areas and eradicate poverty through vocational education, science and technology, and green development concepts. We organized and attracted 620,000 people to participate in the online conference, achieving the expected promotion goals, and enabling Chinese young students to have a clearer understanding and experience of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Shenzhen is the city that has undertaken the heaviest task and done the best job in China in implementing the first Sustainable Development Goal, “No Poverty,” helping 90 counties and cities. Starting from March 2023, we have worked with the Rural Revitalization and Cooperation and Exchange Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality to call on graduates from various colleges and universities and young urban entrepreneurs in Shenzhen to bring sustainable development concepts and technology projects to rural areas and start their business, accelerate the construction of rural public systems such as schools and hospitals, and promote low-carbon lifestyles, so as to increase the wealth and income of rural populations, achieve the goal of poverty eradication in the end, and overcome the impact of COVID-19 to restore economic prosperity.

Since June 2018, we have published articles in both Chinese and English on our official website and WeChat official account once a week to promote the Sustainable Development Goals to Chinese local governments, enterprises, NGOs, and young students. Good results were achieved by publicizing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals one by one. Then, we have been publicizing the 169 targets under those goals. In each issue, we list a total of four cases in China and abroad, serving as a window for showcasing sustainable development demonstration cases and a medium for connecting young people. As of April 2023, our WeChat account has published more than 300 articles to promote the Sustainable Development Goals.

Let’s use the power of youth to create a more beautiful future for the world!

The URL for the full version of the document is:

https://www.un.org/ecosoc/sites/www.un.org.ecosoc/files/documents/2023/2023-hls-compilation-of-written-statements-ngo.pdf

There are two pages on the UN website where this document can be downloaded.

One is under the “Latest” section at the bottom of the “Stakeholders” column on the website of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development:

https://hlpf.un.org/2023/stakeholders

The other is the “Other relevant links” column of the High-level Segment website:

https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/events/2023/high-level-segment-council-including-three-day-ministerial-segment-high-level-political

(Part of the information in this article comes from the United Nations website, Xinhua News Agency, and China News Service.)