UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Both people and the earth must be put at the center of the development efforts, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin said on Monday.
"We can only achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring that people and our planet are at the center of our development efforts, leaving no one behind," Liu said at a meeting of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
Noting that significant progress has been made while the rate of progress in many areas is far slower than needed to meet the targets by 2030, he said "we must work faster."
"Our efforts require an enabling environment for sustainable development," he said. "All nations, developed and developing, large and small, face complex challenges of economic growth, natural disasters, and impacts of conflict."
The most urgent task now is to "support countries most in need," specifically countries in special situations, he added.
The latest data shows that an estimated 766 million people are still mired in extreme poverty. And under the current growth trajectory and without an improvement in income inequality, nearly 35 percent of the population in Least Developed Countries, highly-indebted poor countries and countries in fragile and conflict affected situations may remain in extreme poverty by 2030, Liu said.
He called for "inclusive growth with full and productive employment," noting that "we continue to witness a global economy that is not creating enough quality jobs, due to the continued disconnection between economic growth and job creation."
"To keep pace with the growth of the global working age population, the global economy needs to create 40 million jobs a year, or 600 million jobs by 2030," he said.
"Cooperation in key areas is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of multilateral efforts," he added.
The UN General Assembly allocates to the Third Committee, agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues that affect people all over the world.
