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Helping hundreds of millions of people out of poverty crucial for global sustainable development: UN chief

Xinhua, July 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said that helping hundreds of millions of people out of poverty is crucial for the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 development targets approved in September 2015 to serve as the blueprint for global development efforts.

In his message to mark World Population Day, which falls on July 11, the secretary-general said, "The international community has committed to a new sustainable development agenda built on the principles of equity and human rights. A central objective of the Sustainable Development Goals is to leave no one behind."

"On this World Population Day, I urge all Governments, businesses and civil society to support and invest in teenage girls," the secretary-general said. "Everyone deserves the benefits of economic growth and social progress. Let us work together to ensure a life of security, dignity and opportunity for all."

World Population day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. This year's theme is "Investing in teenage girls."

"Despite significant gains made in reducing poverty and improving opportunity and well-being for many people around the world, hundreds of millions remain desperate for a chance of a better future," Ban said. "Among those least served by previous development initiatives are girls, particularly those in their formative teenage years."

Just when girls should be in school and imagining the possibilities ahead, too many are held back from pursuing their ambitions by social and cultural traps, he said. "While a boy's options and opportunities tend to expand when he becomes an adolescent, those of a girl too often shrink."

Half of all sexual assaults worldwide are committed against girls aged 15 or younger, he noted. "In developing countries, one in three girls is married before she reaches 18. And teenage girls are less likely than teenage boys to start or finish secondary school."

"Rectifying these inequalities is critical for the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," he said. "That is why it includes the specific Goal of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls." Endit