Welcome to the United Nations
A unique installation that brings the voices of children and young people to the heart of the United Nations General Assembly was unveiled today by top UN officials, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham and youth representatives from an initiative called ‘Voices of Youth.’
The international soccer star was referring to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new set of 17 goals and 169 targets that seek to stimulate action over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance towards building a more equitable world for all.
Google has created a new digital installation for UNICEF to harnesses mobile technology and social media to deliver personal messages from children and young people across the globe directly to world leaders.
The messages highlight the challenges they face in their homes and communities – including extreme poverty, inequality, violence, deadly disease and conflict – and express their hopes for the future.
At the unveiling, Mr. Beckham urged world leaders to listen to these messages and to take action to transform the lives of children by putting the most disadvantaged at the centre of all decisions and investments in the new 15-year development agenda.
“Every child has a voice, but too often they’re just not heard,” he said. “At this crucial time, as world leaders are gathering here in New York, and thanks to this incredible installation, their voices will be heard.”
“Unless we invest in the most disadvantaged children from the earliest years, we will continue to see in the next generation the same poverty and inequalities that divide and destabilize our world today, and rob us of the potential of so many young people,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
To read more, please click here.
Source & Copyright: UN News Center