In closing the High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), president Inga Rhonda King assured participants that the session had contributed significantly to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

By “increasing awareness and galvanizing efforts towards empowerment, inclusiveness and equality,” the entire ECOSOC system has worked “to address gaps and challenges, provide integrated policy recommendations, and review progress,” which are all “at the heart of the 2030 Agenda,” she said.

King pointed out that the High-level Segment also included the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum, which she referred to as “the premier global forum for follow-up and review of sustainable development.”

“I am confident that our deliberations on the theme during this cycle have moved us all to double our efforts to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,” she spelled out.

King noted that “the transformative nature of the 2030 Agenda” has been emphasized, by rising and adapting to the demands it places on development actors “to think and work differently.”

She flagged the discussions underscoring the need for an integrated approach to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and “to reduce inequality, end deprivations, and leave no one behind.”

“We have seen that reaching to the local level, empowering people, giving them voice and including them in decision-making leads to better outcomes, with stronger support to implementation,” underscored the ECOSOC President. “And we have heard that we must commit to, and undertake, deliberate, decisive, transformative actions to accelerate implementation and achieve the SDG by 2030.”

The High-level Segment broadened the discussion around the 2030 Agenda by looking at long-term trends and scenarios, which King credited to General Assembly resolution 72/305, calling it “a great accomplishment.”

The morning session looked at 2030 and beyond to examine “Visions and projections for the future of the SDG,” the 2019 ECOSOC theme.