The Ministerial Segment of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum began today at New York Headquarters. H.E. Thoriq Ibrahim, the Maldives’ Environment and Energy Minister is attending the session.

This process grew out of the landmark UN conference on global sustainability, known as Rio+20. It meets both under the UN General Assembly every four years and the UN Economic and Social Council in other years with technical and the aforementioned ministerial and high level segment.

A key focus this year is the report of the Secretary-General on Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The inaugural document provides the first account of the current global situation relative to the 17 SDGs and it is based on the proposed global indicator framework.

“It is an important opportunity to measure how far we have come, how far we still need to go, and how we intend to get there,” said Ibrahim.

Earlier this year the Maldives and Italy assumed their roles as co-chairs of a Steering Committee on Partnership for SIDS after being appointed by the President of the General Assembly. The group, which is open to all UN members, includes representatives from islands, developing and developed nations around the world, formed to help sustain and build upon the ongoing partnerships that lie at the core of the 2014 SAMOA Pathway, SIDS roadmap for sustainable development in SIDS.

“We have learned a lot about how to make sustainable development work since Rio and many of those lessons are reflected in the SAMOA Pathway. The steering committee is another way to ensure implementation and we look forward to working with our partners this week and in the months to come to realise the underlying goal of the SDGs: to make sure no one is left behind,” said Ibrahim.