The UN Secretary General has appointed Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocacy Group for the promotion and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by world leaders last September.

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced the formation of the Advocacy Group at the Davos Open Forum. With a mandate to support the Secretary-General in his efforts to generate momentum and commitment to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the SDG Advocates will add powerful voices to spur action on the visionary and transformational sustainable development agenda, which aims to end poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while leaving no one behind.

They will engage with partners from civil society, academia, parliaments and the private sector to develop ground-breaking ideas to support implementation.

In his remarks during the announcement, Professor Yunus said that the world had to recreate the economic framework and institutions that had created poverty and other social challenges. He said these problems could be resolved permanently and that it was necessary to involve young people in order to achieve this.

The SDG Advocacy Group will be co-chaired by Prime Minister of Ghana Mahama and the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, and the newly-appointed Advocates  include heads of State and Government, business and political leaders and prominent academia, such as Graca Machel, humanitarian, former freedom fighter and educationalist, and the CEO of Unilever Paul Polman.

Joining them as SDG Advocates are:

• Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium
• Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
• Richard Curtis, Screenwriter, Producer and Film Director
• Ambassador Dho Young-Shim, Chairperson, United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty Foundation
• Leymah Gbowee, Director, Gbowee Peace Foundation
• Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group
• Leo Messi, World Renowned Footballer, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
• Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser
• Alaa Murabit, Founder, The Voice of Libyan Women
• Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute at Colombia University
• Shakira Mebarak, Artist, Advocate and Founder, Pies Descalzos Foundation, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
• Forest Whitaker, Founder and CEO, Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation