27 April 2016

‘Leaving no one behind’ is a central pledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is a call to action that will drive our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many things will need to be done to ensure that we fulfil this pledge, among them is to tackle head-on the global challenge of inequality, in developing and developed countries.

ECOSOC recently convened a Special Meeting on Inequality which showed that in order to leave no one behind, we have to address the multiple dimensions of inequality. We need to look not only at gaps in income and wealth, but also at the vast inequalities in access and opportunity - to education, health and other social services. Effective policies to address these inequalities are essential. Care needs to be given to ensuring that such policies benefit everyone, regardless of income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics. While we have enjoyed the most spectacular advances in science and technology in human history for the last few decades, numbers have shown that the gaps have been consistently widening in wealth and income. Such inequality is morally indefensible, bad for growth and development, and could give rise to political and social instability. It also makes it harder for us to reach those furthest behind first.

Also currently serving as President of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, I am acutely aware of the dire need to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities. The most marginalized and excluded including persons with disabilities are more likely to be poor, jobless and have less access to health and education. Such individuals should benefit equally from the fruits of development.

It is therefore very fitting that the first meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development that looks at follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda has as its theme "Ensuring that no one is left behind."