I’ve talked a bit about the Global Goals for Sustainable Development in past blog posts. The aim with these lofty global goals is to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change in the next 15 years. The 17 goals were officially adopted by world leaders at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September of 2015.
Nearly one year later, the United Nations has released the “Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016” to provide an update on the progress of these goals. This report is timed with the first annual “High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development” gathering at the UN, where world leaders can assess progress on the goals.
Since I started writing about the global goals and their importance, I would be remiss if I did not share progress updates from time to time. I suspect these goals aren’t high on your list of priorities on a daily basis. And if we are not aware of them and their progress, then how will we achieve them?
Susan Myers, senior vice president of United Nations Foundation, shared her top 5 takeaways from the report this week. Without detail, her takeaways are:
- We have a lot of important work to do.
- Despite challenges, we CAN make progress.
- We need to focus on reaching vulnerable populations to fulfill the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals to “leave no one behind.” (Editor’s note: “Leave no one behind” is the theme to the political forum this week)
- We must take action to address climate change as our social, economic, and environmental challenges are interconnected.
- Increasing and improving data will be key to helping us reach our goals.
Susan concludes her thoughts with this statement:
The Sustainable Development Goals created an ambitious agenda for people and the planet – and delivering on our goals won’t be easy. But a better world is possible, and we will need the ideas and engagement of every country, sector, and individual to transform the world we have into the world we want.
You can read all of Susan’s thoughts here: Where Do We Stand on the Road to a Better World?
You can download and read the full report here: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016
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