After an incredible week in London, I was lucky enough to have three weeks in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. It was an intensely busy three weeks, but we accomplished so much for the Global Goals Australia Campaign!
We met with many different missions around the Asia-Pacific region to discuss the Global Goals and what how we can work with their governments to ensure the goals are achieved.
We were lucky enough to attend the Social Good Summit as well, hearing from some incredible speakers from around the world on the importance of the achievement of the Global Goals and how we must go about ensuring all targets are achieved. It was here I met with Meighan Stone, President of the Malala Fund, to discuss our work with the Global Goals Australia Campaign.
We attended the Leave No One Behind reception at Scandinavia House for the launch of the partnership. We are proud to announce that Global Goals Australia will be represent Australia within the partnership with CIVICUS, Project Everyone and Development Initiatives.
The next day, I had the absolute pleasure of hanging out on the #WhatIReallyReallyWant Bus! It was such a fantastic day, lots of fun, lots of laughter, lots of singing, lots of dancing… and LOTS of advocacy! Later that evening, I attended the Global Goals Awards Ceremony.
I met with a few international NGOs headquartered in New York including charity: water, Help Me See, Listen Give and many others. One of my favourite moments was conducting simulated cataract surgery at Help Me See HQ! It was an experience I will never forget!
I had the chance to meet with UNDP, UNICEF and UN-OHRLLS to discuss the Global Goals Australia Campaign and seek feedback and advice about how to continue to improve the progress towards the Global Goals both in Australia and by Australia.
At the conclusion of my trip, I made my annual report to Assistant Secretary General Thomas Gass. We discussed the successes of the campaign thus far, where we plan to go in 2017 and what we can do to support the work of the Office of the Secretary General. We also took a selfie together afterwards… because we all love Global Goals selfies!
This article was originally published on the Global Goals Australia Campaign website.