At the start of 2021, the National Assembly of France committed to supporting the 2030 Agenda. On the occasion of the unveiling of an SDG exhibition outside the Palais Bourbon in Paris, created by the Elyx Foundation and supported by UNRIC, UNRIC’s French Desk representative delivered a speech to MPs in praise of the National Assembly’s commitment.

© Elyx Foundation

In Lisbon, the Scouts of Portugal organised an exhibition on the 17 SDGs in collaboration with the CNE Museum and with the support of UNRIC. Information screens highlighted actions to be carried out by Scouts that directly contribute to the achievement of each SDG. UNRIC also supported this project with printed materials on the SDG’s.

For the second edition of Challenge Campus 2030, 680 teams of students and teachers from nearly 80 countries took on the challenge of transforming university campuses to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Three teams won the final prize of the competition organised by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, UNRIC and Agorize. The winning teams were from the University of Liège, Belgium, Bahçeşehir University, Turkey and Estadual Paulista University, Brazil.

© Université de Liège

© UN Photo / Marian Blondeel

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited Brussels in June, his first overseas trip since being re-appointed to a second term. UNRIC covered his visit, during which he met with European leaders as well as Belgian authorities. Here, he is meeting with Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians at the Château de Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. Queen Mathilde is an SDG Advocate.

In July, the Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, landscape of arts and sciences, in Madrid, Spain, entered the UNESCO World Heritage List. UNRIC promoted this event on its website and social media.

© Javier Martinez/Unsplash

To mark the 25th anniversary of the UN campus in Bonn, the City of Bonn and local public transport company SWB launched the “UN Bonn 25 tram”. Adorned with the UN emblem and logo of the anniversary year, the tram connects Bonn’s main station with the UN campus.

As part of the UN-EU Beach Clean-up campaign organised in collaboration with the UN’s ActNow campaign, UNRIC staff participated in the Eneco Clean Beach Cup in the seaside resort of Knokke on the Belgian coast in September. The annual, global campaign encourages everyone, everywhere to participate in local clean-up efforts in support of Sustainable Development Goal 14: ‘Life below water’.

@superkant for @StreetArtMankind

A 40-metre-high artwork painted by Spanish artist Lula Goce in Brussels was unveiled in September as the first in a series of 50 ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ murals. The artwork, depicting Mother Nature, is part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global effort led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) to halt climate change and restore ecosystems by 2030. The mural was created in collaboration with Street Art for Mankind (SAM), UNRIC, the City of Brussels, Parcours Street Art and Solvay.

In the run-up to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), UNRIC created a dedicated climate web page which gathered our key climate and COP26 news and social media assets in one place. Users can download visuals including cards linking the 17 SDGs to the climate, created in partnership with The Smurfs.

The first in-person Ciné-ONU since the start of the pandemic took place in Brussels in November, with the screening of ‘#Salepute’, a film about cyber-violence against women to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Representatives from UNRIC, UN Women, the European Commission as well as the film director held a discussion on gender equality and online misogyny at the event.

Following the creation of a video on the SDGs in Greek sign language, the 17 SDGs were transformed into Greek Braille code for people with a visual impairment, a production by NGO “Me Alla Matia” (With Other Eyes) ODIK and UNRIC. The SDGs in Greek Braille were officially presented during an event in Athens on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3).

The 200th issue of the UNRIC Info Point & Library Newsletter was published on 10 December 2021. This newsletter highlights new publications, websites and information products available throughout the UN System.