I begin by thanking everyone for the opportunity to participate in the 2024 HLPF in person at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Although it is an event that can be attended online, there is no doubt that being here in person, experiencing the atmosphere in the aisles and cafeterias, and conversing with people next to my seat, even without knowing each other, is something unique and truly motivating.

I really enjoyed witnessing the dialogue between representatives of different countries, listening to their research, confirmations, and questions. A question that accompanied me during this time is about the concept of ‘Development’ behind each intervention, especially when listening to qualifiers that describe countries as less developed or developing, in contrast to those that consider themselves developed, which in many cases is debatable.

On the other hand, it has been interesting to become more aware of different situations for which I had no context, such as the serious conflict that Yemen has been enduring for years, reporting setbacks in the progress of the goals, while other neighboring nations such as Oman show progress, standing up for their important capital. In other news, the Russian occupation of Georgian territory… In this sense, it was very moving to witness statements from Ukraine and Palestine, and even from the Holy See, when they referred to SDG 2 regarding Zero Hunger, arguing that there are sufficient resources for every human being and that they must be distributed with justice and equity, therefore, hunger is criminal.

Something I value is recognizing the role of organized civil societies, in particular through the JCoR (Coalition of Religious for Justice), of which I have felt an active force for a couple of years now, learning more about the possibilities of managing policy changes through amplifying and uniting the voices of those working from the grassroots.

There are several lessons that remain with me, especially being part of the collective of civil society organizations in Mexico. I am also grateful to My World Mexico, the institution in charge of coordinating the response process to the government’s Voluntary National Report. Their support and leadership in this national effort to follow up on the Sustainable Development Goals were carried out in a professional manner. I feel fortunate to have been the spokesperson for the official position drafted.

I conclude with the hope of putting the speeches into practice, as was evident from the commitment of each of the delegations attending the closing meeting. Specifically, I found the sessions of sharing good practices of what organizations and congregations are doing, looking for connections and links to strengthen each other, very positive and enlightening.

I lived this experience accompanied by Margaret Mwarili rscj, our representative to the UN, who welcomed me. In addition, Helen O’Regan rscj and Nancy Murphy rscj, along with Zsófia Trásy, a novice from Hungary, were my community during those two weeks.

Maricruz Trigueros Manzo rscj