Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

1 MESSAGE by the President of the Republic of Cyprus Amidst an unprecedented new reality brought about by the pandemic, we should intensify our efforts towards making sustainable development finally a reality for all countries and regions in need, through establishing the necessary political and socio-economic conditions which would lead to stability, economic growth and institution building. We need to embrace the new opportunities that arise and face the challenges with strength and resilience. In this regard, we reiterate our full commitment to strengthening the capacity of the United Nations in pursuance of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. An agenda which needs collective leadership, solidarity and the primacy of multilateralism in order to match the expectations of the people for a sustainable planet. To this end, as you read Cyprus’ second Voluntary National Review (VNR), it is evident that the Sustainable Development Goals form an integral part of our path towards social inclusion, stimulating innovation and accelerating digitalisation, whilst working in parallel towards green transition and reversing the effects of climate change. The review highlights the progress achieved since the last VNR of 2017, whilst not ignoring the remaining challenges we still have to tackle so as to fully achieve our Sustainable Development Goals. On this journey towards a more sustainable future for our generation and for the generations to come, we all have our share to contribute. Government initiatives do not suffice. We invite everyone, the business community, the social partners, the non-governmental organisations and every citizen to join forces so as to fully implement our ambitious strategy towards a new model for strengthening the economy’s resilience and achieving economic, social and environmentally sustainable long-term growth and prosperity. Nicos Anastasiades