UN / SDG REPORT

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2018 report, “shows that people are indeed living better lives than they were a decade ago, even in the regions facing the greatest development challenges,” a UN official said today. UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:36
• Production Date: 20 June 2018
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS - DESA
• Subject Topical: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• MAMS Id: 2181337
• Parent Id: 2181337
• Alternate Title: unifeed180620f

Description

STORY: UN / SDG REPORT
TRT: 01:36
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 20 JUNE 2018, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

20 JUNE 2018, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, dais
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Perucci, Assistant Director, Statistics Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA):
“The report shows that people are indeed living better lives than they were a decade ago, even in the regions facing the greatest development challenges. Since 2000, in Sub-Saharan Africa the maternal mortality ratio has declined by 35 percent, and the under-five mortality rate dropped by 50 percent. In southern Asia, a girl’s risk of marrying in childhood has declined by over 40 percent. In the least developed countries, the proportion of the population with access to electricity has more than doubled. The absolute number of people living without electricity dipped beyond the symbolic threshold of one billion, although rural people are still at a huge disadvantage.”
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Perucci, Assistant Director, Statistics Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA):
“The report also shows that countries face mounting challenges. A fast changing climate, increased number of conflicts and inequality, and persistent pockets of poverty and hunger. For the first time in a decade the number of people who are undernourished has increased from 777 million in 2015 to 850 million people in 2016, mainly due to conflict, drought and disasters linked to climate change.”
9. Wide shot, end of presser

Storyline

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2018 report, “shows that people are indeed living better lives than they were a decade ago, even in the regions facing the greatest development challenges,” a UN official said today (20 Jun).

At the launch of the report, the Assistant Director of the Statistics Division at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Francesca Perucci, said, “since 2000, in Sub-Saharan Africa the maternal mortality ratio has declined by 35 percent, and the under-five mortality rate dropped by 50 percent. In southern Asia, a girl’s risk of marrying in childhood has declined by over 40 percent. In the least developed countries, the proportion of the population with access to electricity has more than doubled. The absolute number of people living without electricity dipped beyond the symbolic threshold of one billion, although rural people are still at a huge disadvantage.”

Perucci indicated that “the report also shows that countries face mounting challenges.”

Among the challenges, the official said “a fast-changing climate, increased number of conflicts and inequality, and persistent pockets of poverty and hunger. For the first time in a decade the number of people who are undernourished has increased from 777 million in 2015 to 850 million people in 2016, mainly due to conflict, drought and disasters linked to climate change.”

Other challenges include persistent gender inequality, sexual violence water and sanitation, and pollution.