The United Nations is set to convene the Summit of the Future, a high-level event bringing world leaders together to forge a more appropriate consensus on global cooperation.
As facilitators of the upcoming summit, Namibia's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Peya Mushelenga and German Ambassador Thorsten Hutter are pushing for greater public awareness in the lead-up to the conference.
As part of the preparation process, the President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, visited Namibia in June.
He engaged with the government and the public on the urgent need to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs in light of the Summit of the Future.
The summit is slated for the 22nd and 23rd of September in New York.
It is considered a crucial platform for creating opportunities for both current and future generations.
It aims to strengthen UN and global governance structures to effectively address both longstanding and emerging challenges while advancing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The Pact of the Future comprises a global digital compact, facilitated by Zambia and Sweden, that focuses on leveraging opportunities and addressing risks associated with digital technologies.
It also includes a declaration on future generations, co-facilitated by Jamaica and the Netherlands, which will outline commitments to consider the needs of future generations in decision-making processes.
"Development and implementation of institutional reforms are necessary for future-proof decision-making while making governance more participatory, adaptive, and responsive to future risks and challenges. Through the pact for the future, it is hoped that the global community strengthens cooperation with a reinvigorated multilateral system at its core in the face of today's challenges," said Dr. Mushelenga while speaking during an awareness-raising event.
Germany's Ambassador to Namibia, Thorsten Hutter, while recognising the challenges in achieving the SDGs, expressed Germany's commitment to address emerging factors, including artificial intelligence, and advance governance in the digital world.
"We are struggling with the implementation of the SDGs; currently progress on half of the 169 targets is insufficient, and we have to jointly look to improve on the implementation of the SDGs. It's the question of financing but also a question of making better use of digital opportunities such as artificial intelligence, and the pact shows how to act more efficiently and promptly."
The engagement also saw confidence expressed in the two countries' abilities by stakeholders in government, the diplomatic corps, academia, and youth.