The relentless energy of 1000 great young innovators who were engaged by UNLEASH to proffer scalable solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially to meet the 2030 deadline of the United Nations (UN), evokes the words of Vincent Van Gogh, a Dutch painter who lived between 1853 and 1890, and said: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together”.
Till date, the efforts by member states of the United Nations (UN) and a few private individuals only seem to have succeeded in scratching the surface of the problem because energy wasn’t synchronized towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and it might not achieve it before the set deadline of 2030.
To further confirm this, Camilla Bruckner, Director at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nordic Representative Office noted that it is the first time in history that all countries are represented for one goal.
She clearly made this known while addressing the diverse audience from 129 countries, stressing that the goal is to achieve the 17 SDGs before the deadline of the year 2030.
Bruckner noted that nations depend on one another emphasising that “we must work together to achieve these goals”, she said.
In his remarks at the closing ceremony of UNLEASH at Aarhus in Denmark, Anders Don, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Partner, Delloite, Denmark identified trust, courage, co-creation and diversity of thoughts as factors that can “allow us to change the world”.
Furthermore, strong words of motivation were also spoken by Trisha Shetty, Founder and CEO, SheSays from India, who noted that beyond the fact that there is a problem, “we have a plan. The plan is the SDG and we must follow it through.
“We have to be resilient in order to achieve our goals. Also, we will treat the SDGs as social development goals and use them to seek results from leaders. We will hold them accountable.
“The problem looks complex but the solutions don’t have to be. What is important is that the solutions shall be localised and implemented.”
It is fascinating, however, to note that what this implies is that everyone’s skills, resources as well as failure experiences are required to achieve the desired solutions to save our planet and ultimately, save ourselves. At the moment, if there are about 30million children growing up poor in the world’s richest countries, then, the fate of the children growing poorly in developing countries is only better imagined.
Reports have it that there are more than 700 million people still living in extreme poverty and cannot afford to have the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation. A number of people living in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa live on less than US$1.90 a day, which is about 70% of the global total. Countries like China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria, are home to about half of the global poor.
In another development, about 44% of the member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported less than 0ne physician per 1000 population, thereby leading to the death of approximately 830 pregnant women due to preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Therefore, between 2017 and 2030, to be able to reduce this staggering figure to 70 per 100,000 live birth, as planned by the UN, it is no more a matter of ‘I’m not poor. Why should I care about other people’s economic situation’ because our well- being is linked to each other.
Global reports have shown that the growing inequality is detrimental to economic growth and it damages social unity, increasing political and social tensions and (in some circumstances) driving instability and conflicts.
It is in this effort that Flemming Besenbacher, through UNLEASH has engaged young persons because Youths’ active engagement in policy-making can make a difference in addressing poverty. This is because their rights are promoted and their voices should be heard. By so doing, inter-generational knowledge is shared and that innovation and critical thinking are encouraged to support transformational change in people’s lives and communities.
In a presentation at the UN Headquarters in New York City, United States of America, the message to lawmakers and governments includes that they can help create an enabling environment to generate productive employment and job opportunities for the poor and the marginalized, adding that they could formulate strategies and fiscal policies that stimulate pro-poor growth, and reduce poverty.
It further stated that Private Sector workers, being an engine of economic growth, have a major role to play in determining whether the growth it creates is inclusive and hence contributes to poverty reduction. The UN stressed that the Sector could promote economic opportunities for the poor, focusing on segments of the economy where most of the poor are active, namely on micro and small enterprises and those operating in the informal sector.
If you are part of the science and academic community, note that Science provides the foundation for new and sustainable approaches, solutions and technologies to tackle the challenges of reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development. The academic and education community has a major role in increasing the awareness about the impact of poverty.
One of the great challenges of our time is eradicating hunger and malnutrition. Not only do the consequences of not enough – or the wrong–food cause suffering and poor health, they also slow progress in many other areas of development like education and employment.
The World Health Organisation reports that every day, too many men and women across the globe struggle to feed their children a nutritious meal. In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, 795 million people – one in nine – still go to bed on an empty stomach each night. Even more – one in three – suffer from some form of malnutrition.
Hunger can positively impact our economies, health, education, equality and social development. It’s a key piece of building a better future for everyone. Additionally, with hunger limiting human development, we will not be able to achieve the other sustainable development goals such as education, health and gender equality.
Healthwise, major progress has been made in several areas, including in child and maternal health as well as in addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Maternal mortality has fallen by almost 50 percent since 1990, measles vaccines have averted nearly 15.6 million deaths since 2000 and 13.6 million people were able to access antiretroviral therapy by the end of 2014.
Ultimately, to save this planet, everyone is needed in whatever capacity is available. The rich man’s physical cash and the poor man’s physical efforts are highly essential. As investors pump in money, implementers and beneficiaries too might take up the personal responsibility not to waste or destroy infrastructures for the greater good of all.
Also, it will be primarily the responsibility of countries. Reviews of progress will need to be undertaken regularly in each country, involving civil society, business and representatives of various interest groups. At the regional level, countries will share experiences and tackle common issues, while on an annual basis, at the United Nations, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), they will take stock of progress at the global level, identifying gaps and emerging issues, and recommending corrective action.
