UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 (IPS) - In 2015, the UN’s 193 member states adopted 17 goals for the health of the world that together comprise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be reached worldwide by 2030.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Sep 19 (IPS) - It’s a year since a photo of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini – bruised and in a coma she would never recover from after being arrested by the morality police for her supposedly improperly worn hijab – went viral, sending people onto the streets.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 (IPS) - Politically, the United Nations has largely been described as a monumental failure -- with little or no progress in resolving some of the world’s past and ongoing military conflicts and civil wars, including Palestine, Western Sahara, Kashmir, and more recently, Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan and Myanmar, among others.

The Prime Minister of Japan said on Tuesday that he is open to meeting President Kim Jong-Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) at any time and without any conditions “to open up a new era together” between the countries.

In his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the president of Mozambique said that the main reason for lack of progress on the 2030 Agenda is similar lack of trust and solidarity “between those who have a lot and those who have little or almost nothing at all”.

Addressing world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed that in an increasingly interdependent world, “a policy for peace must not stop on our own doorstep.”

Speaking at the annual debate of the UN General Assembly in New York, Iran’s President, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi discussed the emergence of non-Western powers, encouraged regional economic and security partnerships, and lamented the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, addressed the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, stating that while every human effort should be directed towards realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, “our energies have once again been diverted by the scourge of war.”

The President of Türkiye showcased his country as an active partner on both the regional and global levels¸ and called for reform of the international institutions, during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

A “rescue plan” for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must now result in policies, budgets and investment to ensure a more just, equitable and green future by 2030, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday.