jordan pulse -

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah participated yesterday, Sunday, in New York, in a UNICEF program, in order to advocate for children. The activity was held on the sidelines of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The program, in which the First Lady of the United States of America, Dr. Jill Biden, participated as a keynote speaker, and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and hosted by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, aimed to put children at the forefront of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by focusing on their empowerment and the need to invest in their future.

Youth advocates, a number of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, and many prominent figures participated in the program, and included a segment on ways to support children in areas such as health, education, climate, and peacebuilding efforts.

This program coincides with the issuance of a new UNICEF report examining the progress made in child-specific indicators in the Sustainable Development Goals. According to the report, two-thirds of child-related indicators are far from achieving their target within the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The report warns that to date, only 6% of children living in only 11 countries have been able to achieve 50% of the goals related to children. If this trend continues, it is expected that 60 countries - home to only 25% of the world's children - will be able to achieve their goals by 2030, leaving behind about 1.9 billion children in 140 countries.

The analysis collects more than 20 years of data across more than 190 countries, compares where countries are today with where they aim to be in the next seven years, and identifies challenges and opportunities for accelerating action. The results a mixed picture of progress and regression on global goals.

The report also reveals that accelerating development is possible through strong commitment, effective policies, and adequate financing, with some low- and lower-middle-income countries achieving the fastest rate of progress.