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PRESS RELEASE – Italian art at the United Nations with the “Goals Together” exhibition on children’s rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Maeci Rappresentanza Permanente Italia
Maeci Rappresentanza Permanente Italia

New York, December 6, 2022. Fighting hunger and poverty, the right to quality education, a healthy environment and decent work are among the Goals of the UN Agenda 2030 at the center of Sabrina Rocca’s exhibition “Go Goals Together,” brought to the UN Headquarters by the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations together with the International Labor Organization – International Training Center in Turin. Children from all over the world feature prominently in Rocca’s artwork, which voices their urgent appeal for a fundamental right, the right to having a future.
The artist cut the inaugural ribbon alongside Ambassador Maurizio Massari, ILO International Training Center Director Giuseppe Casale, and UN Assistant Secretary General and Head of the UNEP Office in New York (United Nations Environment Program) Ligia Noronha.
In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Massari reiterated that art, as a universal language accessible to everyone, has the role to convey messages anyone can understand: “the message here is that we need to implement the 2030 Agenda’s goals. This is the appeal coming from the children and the other main figures portrayed in collection. Children are the ‘stakeholders’ of tomorrow, we must listen to them”.
“The exhibition is also intended as Italy’s contribution to the groundwork for the SDGs Summit that will be held in New York in September 2023”- continued the Ambassador referring to the important Summit under the aegis of the United Nations that convenes world leaders to renew their commitment to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda.
Massari’s speech also included a reference to Italy’s intense work at the UN on children rights – most recently with a focus on children in the context of conflict – and to its longstanding collaboration with the ILO. “Italy was among the very first countries to ratify ILO Convention 190 on Work-Related Violence and Harassment. We urge all states that have not yet done so to ratify it,” he stressed, linking his appeal to the 16 days of UN activism against gender-based violence (ongoing until Dec. 10).
ITCILO Director Casale drew attention to the painting depicting SDG 8, “Decent Work and Economic Growth,” to emphasize that there can be no economic growth without social justice. “This is why ILO insists on the creation of a Global Coalition on Social Justice,” he said. “We must act and we must do it united, and art is a great form to call everyone to action”.
“COVID has set us back years on the path to achieve the SDGs,” ASG Noronha pointed out, “and the environmental issue has not been sufficiently addressed. We need to work with present and future generations, which is why UNEP has involved and continues to involve young people in its processes.”
The UN Turin Campus hosts the UN System Staff College and UNICRI (UN Crime and Justice Research Institute) in addition to the ITCILO. Turin, Rome, Florence, Brindisi along with other Italian cities where UN entities are based, make Italy the third largest UN hub in the world after New York and Geneva.
The collection will be on display from Dec. 5 to 16 at the United Nations Building, Delegate Entrance, for UN pass holders and school groups as part of organized guided tours.
For visits by media and other interested parties who do not hold the UN pass, it is possible to contact the press office of the Italian Mission press.italyun@esteri.it.

 

News from National Broadcast RAI1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJS0ui2Ei3M