About 6,000participants from across UN Member States, civil society, youth, local and regional governments, and the private sector convened at the UN Headquarters in New York for the SDG Action Weekend which took place on 16 and 17 September 2023. The Weekend featured seven stakeholder-led mobilization segments, 12 sessions centered around the UN-led High Impact Initiatives, three special sessions, and over 40 high-level side-events organized by coalitions of governments, UN entities, international organizations and global stakeholder networks, including IGCN.
The UN Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, and renowned development experts and activists spoke in the high-level opening and closing. The events focused on a wide range of topics, including financing for sustainable development, the means of implementation, leaving no one behind, and thematic issues that illustrated the integrated nature of the SDGs.
“Let’s transform the world; let’s bring more justice and equality to our international institutions.
Let’s rescue the SDGs and fight for the better future every person deserves.”
– H. E. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
IGCN started its UN General Assembly week participation by taking part in the two-day event of the SDG Action Weekend: SDG Mobilization Day (16 September 2023) and SDG Acceleration Day (17 September 2023).
SDG Mobilization Day created convening and mobilization opportunities for stakeholders across civil society, the private sector, youth, women, scientists, local and regional governments, major groups, and other stakeholders. While SDG Acceleration Day profiled actions, investments, and support to accelerate implementation between now and 2030; centered around twelve High Impact Initiatives that the UN development system mobilized around in advance of the SDG Summit.
To get an overview of the stakeholder engagement during the SDG Action Weekend, check out this short film. To learn more about the weekend’s events and watch the available recordings, visit the SDG Action Weekend webpage.
SDG Summit Acceleration and Accountability Platform
Following the Secretary-General’s call for the announcement of forward-looking commitments for SDG transformation at the Summit, an SDG Acceleration and Accountability Platform was set up by UN DESA, in collaboration with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, as a tool to help capture information about commitments and actions around the world to step up the ambition and implementation of the SDGs. For more information about the national commitments and acceleration actions, please visit the SDG Acceleration and Accountability Platform at sdgs.un.org/SDGSummitActions.
This side event as part of the SDG Mobilization Day of the SDG Action Weekend was co-organized by The Government of Finland, the UN Global Compact Finland, the Indonesia Global Compact Network (IGCN), and the Global Forum for National SDG Advisory Bodies.
This side event focused on sharing experiences and lessons learned as well as discussing future steps to enhance the sustainability transformation in societies. The discussions are set two-directionally: first, how the sustainability work of the platforms’ members benefits from being part of such networks; and second, how the sustainability transformation can be speeded up through multi-stakeholder collaboration in a just manner.
IGCN Executive Director, Josephine Satyono as one of the panelists shared about how the UN Global Compact as the biggest corporate sustainability initiative has supported businesses around the world in accelerating the SDGs by providing guidance, tools, and benchmarks, including Accelerator programs and Academy sessions aligned with the Ten Principles of UN Global Compact and the SDGs.
Quranisya Ikhtiardani, Senior Officer Investor Information & Engagement of PT Pertamina (Persero), who attended as a Young SDG Innovator delegate from Indonesia added her view to the discussion, elaborating the key role of youth in the achievement of the SDGs.
This side event was followed by an evening reception at Scandinavia House, New York to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development, co-hosted by the UN Global Compact Finland and the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office, taking the theme of “Our Common Agenda Paves the Way for Future Global Co-operation – Achieving the 2030 Agenda and SDGs Challenges Us All”. During the reception, the audience who consisted of business actors, civil society, and government had the opportunity to listen to an address by Tarja Halonen, the first woman President of Finland (2000-2012) who spoke about the UN’s role in fostering sustainable development during these turbulent times and here onward.
IGCN attended the reception along with other Indonesian representatives from PT Pertamina (Persero).
