Malta ranked 22nd out of 157 countries in respect of UN Sustainable Development Goal achievements, a government statement read.
"The SDG Index and Dashboards 2017 Report (http://www.sdgindex.org) produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Bertelsmann Stiftung, which provides a report card for country performance on the United Nations' Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has given Malta a global ranking of 22nd out of 157 countries."
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela said that this ranking encouraged Malta to continue working tirelessly to ensure a holistic implementation of the SDGs.
The SDGs were adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at a historic UN summit, and officially came into force on 1st January 2016. "With these universal goals, countries are mobilising their efforts in a bid to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, and tackle climate change. The High-Level Political Forum is the UN's central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs," the statement read.
The political forum convened at the UN Headquarters in New York under the auspices of the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 'Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world' as a theme. This year, 44 countries volunteered to present their national voluntary reviews to the High-Level Political Forum; Malta intends to follow suit in the coming years.
"Awareness raising is key and, during the past year, the Government of Malta has been working hand-in-hand with civil society to bring Agenda 2030 into every household by means of the regular media and the social media platforms", Minister Abela told the High-Level Political Forum, adding that during the six months of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Malta made real progress on a range of issues that matter to all, particularly in the field of development.
In the area of development cooperation, Malta has witnessed considerable progress, said Minister Abela.
"Together with the other EU Member States, it has worked incessantly towards the adoption of a new European Consensus on Development to fully reflect the Global Development Agenda. The European Consensus, which represents a new shared vision and plan of action to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, was signed on the 7th June during the European Development Days. Due to the New Consensus on Development, the EU and its member states now have 'one development policy for all', which is a ground-breaking cornerstone in the EU's effort to deliver on the 2030 Agenda in the next decade or so," the statement continued.
Minister Abela voiced his optimism that although the world faces many challenges, the international community is coming together to fight poverty in unprecedented ways: "We are working together to eradicate poverty and hunger, to put more children in schools, and to achieve real equality between women and men in the classroom and in the workplace. We are also fighting the spread of disease by investing in healthcare. We recognise that true development includes achievement in a number of areas, such as good governance, well-respected human rights, and a state where the rule of law is upheld," the Minister said. "This High-Level Political Forum is a reminder that we need to continue focusing on development cooperation. Besides increasing our investments in official development assistance, as governments we also have a responsibility to reach out and form new partnerships with global financial institutions and the private sector."