The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) named Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden as Goodwill Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this new role, the Crown Princess will mobilize support for the 17 Goals, which were established in 2015 as a global roadmap to end poverty and improve the well-being of people and the planet by 2030.
At the signing ceremony, held at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, the Crown Princess said: “It is a great honor to have been named Goodwill Ambassador for UNDP. It gives me additional opportunities to support the work for the Sustainable Development Goals. I look forward to immersing myself in UNDP’s work to prevent many of the difficult challenges the world faces today that affect people all over the world.”
“We are delighted to warmly welcome Crown Princess Victoria to our global UNDP family and our efforts to help build a greener, more sustainable and more inclusive future for all – a vision so clearly articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),”, said UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. “As we reach ‘halftime’ in the race to achieve these SDGs, we are grateful to have the Crown Princess lend her voice and time to play a vital role in inspiring communities across the globe to take bold new action for people and planet.”
Green transition and innovative financing
At the ceremony, the Crown Princess was joined by UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator Ulrika Modéer and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell.
”I am pleased that the Crown Princess will represent UNDP in this important role as Goodwill Ambassador for the SDGs. It is clear that more needs to be done and that all of us must contribute in order to reverse the negative development over the past few years. The Swedish Government actively contributes to the implementation of Agenda 2030. We are a leading contributor of development and climate finance, but other forms of financing are also necessary. We therefore work for an increased focus on innovative financing and mobilization of private capital in favor of the SDGs. The Swedish private sector has a central role to play, not least in terms of the green transition.”, said Minister Forssell.
Committed to sustainability
The Crown Princess’s nomination as Goodwill Ambassador is yet another milestone in her longtime commitment to sustainable development. She has previously served as one of 17 Advocates for the SDGs from 2016 to 2019, under the leadership of the then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Crown Princess is now an Advocate Emerita for the SDGs, in which she retains a particular focus on sustainability, the sea and fishing.
Global and local engagements
Over the years, the Crown Princess has engaged in a range of global advocacy efforts, including the UN Ocean Conference, the global launch of the 2020 Human Development Report, and a trip to Kenya with UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in November last year, to raise awareness for climate action, biodiversity, and efforts to end poverty.
In addition to her global engagements, the Crown Princess established, together with Prince Daniel, The Crown Princess Couple’s Foundation to mark their wedding in 2010. Followed by the Generation Pep, both initiatives promote inclusivity, youth well-being, and health. Before that, in 1997, the Crown Princess Victoria’s Fund was founded in her name, to support the inclusion of children with disabilities in Sweden. The Crown Princess also serves as a patron of the Gundua Foundation, which runs a school and health center in Kenya.
As UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, the Crown Princess joins a select group of globally celebrated leaders in the fields of art, music, entertainment and sport, including actors like Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh (Malaysia), Antonio Banderas (Spain), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Denmark) and Connie Britton (USA) best-selling author and television producer Padma Lakshmi (India/USA), award-winning singer and songwriter Yemi Alade (Nigeria), artist and climate activist Olafur Eliasson (Iceland/Denmark), and musician and competitive swimmer Cody Simpson (Australia), among others. For the full list of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, click here.
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