By Asmau Ahmad
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Monday join World leaders to participate in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (UN 2023 Summit on SDGs) as United Nations marks the halftime of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
President Tinubu, will arrive New York on Sunday, to attend the high-level meeting of the 78th UN General Assembly, holding between September 19 and 23.
The theme of the UNGA is: “Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all.”
The president on his first outing to the Assembly will deliver his inaugural national statement to the world leaders on Tuesday.
Tinubu’s address will encompass several issues such as sustainable development, climate change, global cooperation, and the imperative to address inequalities and global humanitarian crises.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian President is slated to participate in the high-level dialogue on financing for development.
He will attend a high-level meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response.
On Thursday, he will be participating in the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit and attend a high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage and join another high-level panel on reform of the global financial architecture.
On Friday, he will be attending the high-level meeting on the fight against tuberculosis.
During the week, President Tinubu is scheduled to hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders including the Presidents of the European Union Commission, Brazil and South Africa, among others.
The president will also advance his economic development agenda for aggressive investments attraction in meetings with the global leadership of transnational firms.
Among such firms are Microsoft, Meta Technologies, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, and others.
Also, the president will touch on details around emerging cross-sectoral investment opportunities in Nigeria in his address to American business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
At the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) Headquarters in New York, Tinubu will conduct its closing ceremony during its trading session.
This will make the Nigerian leader the first African president to do so.
The president will also address the Nigerian SMEs Business Summit where he will seek to highlight the increasingly important role of Nigerian enterprises in global trade.
Meanwhile, to mark halftime of the SDGs, a new SDG Pavilion has been constructed at the UN headquarters in New York, which will host an art exhibition during the session.
The SDGs’ pavilion located at the Southeast area of the building, will be hosting high-profile speakers during the high-level meeting session.
The speakers include heads of state and government, business leaders, experts and advocates for halftime talks to mobilise the world to keep the promise of the goals
“This is a moment of solidarity for our global village at our global Town Hall, the United Nations.
“With only 15 per cent of the SDG targets on track, it is time to come together to find just and equitable solutions and take them to scale,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in a statement.
“During the high-level week of the General Assembly, the SDG Pavilion will host a series of halftime talks, a collaborative mix of panel discussions, lightning talks, demonstrations, and films, as well as artistic performances focused on just and equitable solutions.”
The UN Office for Partnerships is working with Project Everyone, a not-for-profit communications agency co-founded by SDG Advocate and screenwriter, Richard Curtis, in collaboration with renowned artist, Es Devlin, to create the SDG pavilion, a unique convening space and art exhibition.
