President Irfaan Ali has once again issued a call to the international community to get serious about ending hunger, poverty and other challenges facing the world by keeping financial commitments that were previously made.

The President made the statement as he addressed the high-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on Monday at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Global leaders are meeting in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly.

They have been focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals, which were approved in September 2015 by the 193 UN members as a roadmap to tackle the world’s most troubling problems by 2030.

The 17 goals and their accompanying 169 targets range from halting deforestation to raising living standards, reducing child mortality and promoting global peace.

The cost of their enactment has been estimated at US$3 trillion per year.

“Guyana believes that significant progress can only be made in achieving the SDGs if national efforts are matched by commitments being fulfilled, and if an international environment is created that fosters progress for all countries,” the President told the forum.

Additionally, the President said the financial commitments by many in the international community have not been met.  Additionally, he noted, that the international financial architecture is out of sync with the needs of developing countries and must be reformed.  

“Developing countries are faced with higher food inflation – 5% higher than the rest of the world in most cases. To compound this, for developing countries, the average interest on external borrowing is three times higher than that of developed countries,” the President noted.

The President urged international organizations to keep their commitments. He said everyone, everywhere will enjoy their full human rights, peace and security, and will be free from poverty and hunger once the commitments are met.

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