BONN, 15 December 2016 (UN News Service): Together with the Government of Germany, the United Nations SDG Action Campaign has offered a behind-the-scenes tour of the Global Campaign Center in Bonn, a new hub that will deliver on the Campaign’s mandate to inspire action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“The Center will equip the Campaign to deliver on its mandate to foster buy-in of the SDGs among all stakeholders, facilitate mechanisms for public engagement in SDGs participatory monitoring and accountability, and create an open and inclusive SDG people’s action platform”, said Mitchell Toomey, Global Director the UN SDG Action Campaign.
“We look forward to working side by side with our neighbours in the Knowledge Center for Sustainable Development of the UN System Staff College and the broader UN Bonn family,” added he.
The center is located in the historic Haus Carstanjen, a castle in Bonn where the Marshall Plan was signed after World War II.
The Action Campaign is a special initiative by the UN Secretary-General, administered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to support the entire UN system and its Member States on advocacy and public-engagement for the SDG implementation.
Recently, an interactive tour showcased the Campaign’s work through virtual reality film screenings, the new My World 2030 survey that tracks progress of the SDGs, an SDG photo exhibit, and data analytics visualizations.
“The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or ‘SDGs,’ provide the necessary tools to change life on our planet for the better. They are meant to permeate (gennemsyre) and change all fields of society. The ability of the Agenda 2030 to get moving, to get momentum is vital because this will be the benchmark by which its success will be gauged,” said Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Foreign Minister of Germany.
With the opening of the new center, the United Nations Bonn now consists of 20 organizations with more than 1,000 staff members working in the fields of climate change, land degradation, biodiversity and ecosystem services, wildlife conservation, volunteerism, health, human security, disaster risk reduction, tourism, education, and training.
The Global Campaign Center is critical to allow the UN to provide real-time cutting-edge advocacy support and big data expertise and analytics to its Member States and partners around the world.
Next March, the public presence of the campaign will be announced at the World Conference Center.
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