Media Advisory

As global challenges intensify, UN conference to call for urgent action to strengthen institutions and advance peace and justice

Follow LIVE on UN Web TV

WHAT: SDG 16 Conference 2026

Amid heightened global instability, the SDG 16 Conference on 17 June will serve as a unique platform to explore trends, challenges, and opportunities to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong institutions — a critical enabler of all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Drawing on recent multilateral frameworks, including the Pact for the Future adopted at the Summit of the Future in 2024, the Conference will mobilize action-oriented partnerships and highlight how progress on SDG 16 can deliver tangible results for societies and support national development priorities.

The Conference will feature three thematic panel sessions: 1) Stocktaking progress on SDG 16; 2) Peace, justice and effective institutions: the transformative impact of SDG 16; and 3) Partnerships and collective action to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies. Civil society stakeholders will present the 2026 Civil Society Declaration on SDG 16+.

Held under the theme “Driving transformation and coordinated action for sustainable development,” the Conference is co-organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), and the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations.

WHEN:

17 June 2026, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm EDT

WHERE:

Conference Room 4, UN Headquarters in New York

Follow live on UN Web TV. 10:00 am – 1:00 pm EDT; 3:00 – 6:00 pm EDT

WHO:

Ministers and other high-level government representatives, senior UN officials, experts from international

organizations, academia, the private sector, youth, and civil society organizations.

The Conference will feature statements by:

• Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
• H.E. Mr. Edmondo Cirielli, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy
• H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock, President of the United Nations General Assembly
• H.E. Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
• Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
• Ms. Jan Beagle, Director-General, International Development Law Organization
• (IDLO)
• H. E. Mr. Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Human Capital Development, Ministry of Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, Kenya
• H. E. Mr. Inocêncio Florentino José Impissa, Minister of State Administration and Public Service, Ministry of State Administration and Public Service, Mozambique
• H.E. Mr. Ulvi Mehdiyev, Chairman, State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations, Azerbaijan
• H.E. Mr. Alejandro Encinas Nájera, Vice Minister for Good Governance, Ministry of Anticorruption and Good Governance, Mexico
• Mr. Helder Da Costa, General Secretary, g7+ Secretariat
• Ms. Thioro Mbaye Sall, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Public Service, Senegal
• Mr. Faisal Adan Hassan, Permanent Secretary of the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Federal Government of Somalia
• Mr. Semen Kryvonos, Director, National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine
• Mr. Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, Ombudsman, Republic of the Philippines
• Hon. Ebenezer Cobbinah, Municipal Chief Executive, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, Ghana
• Ms. Claudia Fuentes Julio, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of OHCHR
• Mr. Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
• Ms. Monica Kathina Juma, Executive Director, UNODC (video message)
• Mr. Arturo Herrera Gutierrez, Global Director for Governance, World Bank
• Ms. Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, former Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
• Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union
• Ms. Margaret Williams, Associate Director, SDG16+ Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies
• Mr. Enzo Romero, Young Leader for the SDGs, Mechatronics Engineer, Bionic Innovator & Founder of LAT Bionics, Peru

More details, including the programme and full list of speakers, are available here.

Main hashtag: #SDG16Conference

Media Contacts:

• Sharon Birch, UN Department of Global Communications | [email protected]

• Helen Daun Rosengren, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs | [email protected]

• Julie Powell, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs | [email protected]