UN appoints Dia Mirza Advocate of Sustainable Development Goals
Rohit Shishodia
The United Nations has appointed Bollywood actress and film producer Diya Mirza as the new advocate of Sustainable Development Goals, which include achieving certain targets on health parameters, zero hunger, clean water, sanitation, affordable and clean energy and poverty elimination.
The appointment was made by Mr António Guterres on May 10, 2019. This is the second appointment of Mirza in the UN after she was appointed as UN Environment’s Goodwill Ambassador for India in 2018. Apart from Mirza, the UN has appointed 16 other new Sustainable Development Goals Advocates.
Mr Guterres said that these influential public figures are committed to spread awareness, inspiring greater ambition, and pushing for faster action on the SDGs, which were adopted by world leaders on 25 September 2015.
He added that UN has the tools to address the questions posed by climate change, environmental pressure, poverty and inequality. They lie in the great agreements of 2015 – the 2030 Agenda for SDGs and the Paris Agreement on climate change.