UN chief lauds pioneering role of El Salvador in carrying out global development goals

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday commended the pioneering role El Salvador is taking in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which was approved by world leaders in September 2015 to serve as the blueprint for the global development efforts in the years leading up to 2030.

The statement came as the secretary-general was meeting with Hugo Martinez Bonilla, the foreign minister of El Salvador, on the sidelines of the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, which opened here Tuesday and runs through Sept. 26.

During the meeting, the secretary-general welcomed the government's willingness to seek consensus on issues of national interest and reiterated the UN's readiness to support those efforts, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

"The secretary-general stressed the importance of ensuring that the extraordinary security measures in place in El Salvador comply with international human rights obligations and welcomed the establishment of a high-level commission to strengthen the internal control of the security forces," the spokesman said. Endit