Questions? +1 (202) 335-3939 Login
Trusted News Since 1995
A service for global professionals · Thursday, March 28, 2024 · 699,403,933 Articles · 3+ Million Readers

UN Secretary-General Appoints Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi as an UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate

With 160 million children in child labour globally & millions more vulnerable due to the pandemic, this appointment is an acknowledgement of the crisis we face & its implications on the 2030 Agenda.”
— Kailash Satyarthi
WASHINGTON, DC, US, September 17, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Washington, DC 17th September 2021: Today, António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, appointed Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate, as a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, a role that is integral to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This appointment comes during a critical year, the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, when the world tragically saw the first rise in child labour in two decades. With160 million now in child labour, and millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19, this increase derails the world’s promise to eliminate child labour by 2025 as committed to in UN SDG 8.7 and therefore puts the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at risk. This appointment acknowledges the leadership and moral authority Mr. Satyarthi brings with his four decades of work building a global movement to advance children’s rights and eliminate child labour and slavery. It is also a recognition of the central role that the elimination of child labour, slavery and trafficking plays towards the achievement of the UN SDGs.

“On behalf of the children of the world, I am honoured to accept this appointment,” stated Kailash Satyarthi. “In the four years prior to the pandemic, 10,000 additional children between the ages of 5 and 11 became child labourers every day. This increase took place during the first four years of the UN SDGs and is an unjustifiable development that is an early warning to the potential failure of the 2030 Agenda. The children who are in child labour are not in school, have limited or no access to healthcare and water and sanitation, remain in a cycle of abject poverty and face intergenerational racial and social discrimination.”

“As a pioneer and leader of the global movement to end child slavery and to protect the rights of children to quality education, Mr. Satyarthi is uniquely placed to promote the SDGs, thus bringing them to the forefront of global attention,” stated UN Secretary-General Guterres. “I applaud Mr. Satyarthi’s unwavering commitment to give voice to children around the world. It is imperative that we come together, collaborate, build partnerships, and support one another in accelerating global action towards the SDGs.”

The UN Secretary General’s SDG Advocates are 17 strong public figures who can use their voices and platforms to bring to life the vision of a better world and call for increased ambition and scalable action in the pursuit of achieving all the SGDs by 2030.

“With 160 million children in child labour globally, and millions more vulnerable due to the pandemic, this appointment is an acknowledgement of the current crisis we are facing and its far-reaching implications on the overall 2030 Agenda,” Mr. Satyarthi continued. “We have the knowledge. We have the resources. It is the political will that is required to ensure all children have the financial resources, policies and social protection required to end the exploitation of children everywhere. Global development can be inclusive and sustainable only if the present and future generations are free, safe, healthy and educated.”

About Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi
Mr. Kailash Satyarthi has been a tireless advocate of children’s rights globally, for more than four decades. Through his organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan, he has directly rescued more than 100,000 children from child labour, slavery, trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The Global March Against Child Labour, which
he led, galvanized support in 103 countries resulting in the adoption of ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Form

of Child Labour, which in 2020, it became the only universally ratified convention in the history of the ILO. In 2014, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime of struggle against the exploitation of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. He and the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation are leading the global Fair Share to End Child Labour Campaign, to address the inequality, injustice and discrimination that lie at the core of child labour.

He has dedicated his life to realizing his vision of ending violence against children and building a world where all every child is free to be a child.

For more information:
Anjali Kochar, Washington, DC: +1.917.969.2108, anjali@satyarthi.org
Paroma Battacharya, New Delhi: +91.99109.40551 or +91.92055.85986, paroma@satyarthi.org

Anjali Kochar (US)
Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation
+1 917-969-2108
email us here

Powered by EIN Presswire


EIN Presswire does not exercise editorial control over third-party content provided, uploaded, published, or distributed by users of EIN Presswire. We are a distributor, not a publisher, of 3rd party content. Such content may contain the views, opinions, statements, offers, and other material of the respective users, suppliers, participants, or authors.

Submit your press release