Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "I applaud today’s successful conclusion of negotiations on an ambitious, inclusive Post-2015 Development Agenda.
"The goals and aspirations conveyed through these negotiations expand on the successes seen under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), established by the global community 15 years ago. Those successes include a dramatic drop in the share of the world’s people living in extreme poverty, an equally dramatic increase in the number of people with access to clean water, and long-sought parity among girls and boys in primary-school enrollment.
"This bold new agenda of sustainable development goals features transformative objectives for the next 15 years: eradicating extreme poverty; ensuring environmental sustainability and conservation; advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls; and building peaceful, well-governed, and economically prosperous societies to ensure that we leave no one behind. It also strengthens our collective fight against those challenges we know keep setting us back, like conflict and climate change.
"This agenda reflects our evolving understanding of how development works, beginning with local empowerment, ownership, and leadership, and made real through strong partnerships among governments, multinational institutions, nonprofit organizations, private companies, and individual citizens, which instill accountability and drive inclusive economic growth.
"The close of negotiations marks a pivotal moment of international consensus on a common vision for our planet’s future. This is a vision of a better world that provides opportunities for the most vulnerable, and puts our planet on a sustainable path. We must now turn our attention towards implementation to make this vision a reality.
"We look forward to participating in this fall’s United Nations Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and setting the course for sustained development progress for people around the globe for decades to come."
