BRUSSELS, Belgium / MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, September 9 (IPS) – When the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) ended in New York in July, it took two recorded votes for states to pass a ministerial declaration that, until recently, would have been adopted without controversy. Uruguay, speaking for the Group of 77 developing countries plus China, pushed through the deletion of a reference to the agreement reached at the COP28 climate summit. Israel forced a vote on a paragraph about self-determination for people under occupation. Russia dissociated itself from the passage on peace and security. The wrangling revealed the extent to which the consensus that in 2015 saw all 193 UN states agree the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a common blueprint to end poverty, tackle climate change and build accountable institutions by 2030 – has been eroded.
Read the full story, “Development Goals Falter as Civil Society Is Shut Out”, on globalissues.org →
Guterres urges leaders to invest in peace as conflicts deepen 
UN and Partners Work to Stabilize Health and WASH Systems in Venezuela Following Deadly Earthquakes 
Record number of attacks on education, global fund warns 
Ships and seafarers increasingly caught in the crossfire of unrelated wars 
How Saving Cattle in Zimbabwe is Saving Its Lions 
‘This is not 1945’: General Assembly president gavels open new session aimed at restoring global trust 
AI may have solved one of math’s biggest puzzles, raising controversy