TOPIC 2: 17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

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TOPIC 2: 17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

     Assalamualaikum everyone! Welcome back to my blog and I hope you are reading this in a good mood today! In this part, I will focus on 17 Sustainable Development Goals. There are many targets, events, publications and also actions that they want to achieve in this goal. The United Nations created 17 Sustainable Development Goals and aimed to reach them by 2030. All 193 United Nations Member States agreed on these 17 goals to end poverty, ensure prosperity, and protect the planet. Here is the list of United Nation Sustainable Development Goals:

End poverty in all its forms, everywhere.

Example Project: Donation Match, OKO Finance and Solar Freeze

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Example Project: Indigo Drones, SkillLab and Apic

I think the first goal and second goals have the same target but the first goal focus on ending poverty towards all people. Meanwhile, the second goal aims to ensure that everybody can get some food in the best way which is to promote sustainable agriculture. Both agendas have the best way to help people in poor conditions like they had to abandon their homes due to conflict and people in the world go to bed hungry. Therefore, we need to take some actions to make this agenda achieve the target successfully. Among the actions that we can do is we can buy fair trade fruit and products to help people poor farmers and poor workers. Besides, we also can join a pressure group to demand action. 

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages.

Example Project: Kindara, WonderTree and mDoc

I strongly agree with this goal because it ensures that all families are in good health and good condition. Therefore, all families should make sure that their children get the vaccine to avoid some diseases that will affect their health. 

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Example Project: DonationMatch, OKO Finance and SkillLab

The effort to achieve quality education is one of the goals contained in the sustainable development agenda and the target is to ensure that all levels of society regardless of male or female gender can master literacy and numeracy. 

Therefore, my opinion from an Islamic perspective regarding literacy and numeracy skills is one of the best steps in educating and forming a knowledgeable Muslim. Furthermore, literacy and numeracy skills can develop various skills like improve their prospects in life including health, career opportunities and others.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Example Project: DonationMatch, SkillLab and Kindara

Another goal is Gender Equality. The target is to empower males and females to ensure their equal rights. I think this goal can help women or girls to take care of themselves. This is because many females had to face many challenges in life. For example, there are facts that almost 641 million have been subjected to physical and sexual violence by a husband or intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. Therefore, this goal aims to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. In addition, this goal also ensures women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels o decision-making in political, economic and public life.

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Example Project: Flow

I think this goal is also important to us because it provides a human right that we need to live peacefully such as access to water, sanitation and hygiene. We know that water is essential not only to health but also to poverty reduction, food security, peace, human rights, ecosystems and education. Nevertheless, countries face growing challenges linked to water scarcity, water pollution, degraded water-related ecosystems and cooperation over transboundary water basins, water ecosystems their biodiversity and take action on climate change. So, there are several things that we can do such as get involved in the World Water Day and World Toilet Day campaigns that aim to provide information and inspiration to take action on hygiene issues. Meanwhile, civil society organizations should work to keep governments accountable, invest in water research and development and promote the inclusion of women, youth, and indigenous communities in water resources governance.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

I want to support this goal because I think it is very matters for us and it also provides a well-established energy system that supports all sectors of businesses, from medicine and education to agriculture, infrastructure, communications and high technology. Thus, we should care about this goal for many decades, fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas have been major sources of electricity production, but burning carbon fuels a third of the world's population mostly women and children will continue to be exposed to harmful household air pollution. 

Furthermore, lack of access to energy may hamper efforts to contain COVID-19 across many parts of the world. Energy services are key to preventing diseases and fighting pandemics from powering healthcare facilities and supplying clean water for essential hygiene to enabling communications and IT services that connect people while maintaining social distancing.

So, what can we do to fix these issues? I think we can save electricity by plugging appliances into a power strip and turning them off completely when not in use, including our computer.  We also can bike, walk or take public transport to reduce carbon emissions.

Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Example Project: SkillLab and DonationMatch

This goal has many benefits for everyone such as providing a higher level of economic growth, achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, providing full employment mainly among youth, ensuring optimum use of resources and also a safe and secure working environment. I think this goal is very good for ensuring that all people can get their opportunities to work. I have read that there are 202 million people are now unemployed around the world. So. there are many actions that we can do to solve this problem. We can shop locally and support neighbourhood businesses to keep people employed.  Besides, we can buy fair trade products whenever possible, join a campaign at www.one.org in this area and volunteer 1 or 2 hours a week to a local charity.  

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Example Project: DonationMatch and OKO Finance

This goal makes economies with a diversified industrial sector and strong infrastructure sustain less damage and is experiencing faster recovery. I think this goal makes us aware to improve our life because if industries pursue sustainability, this approach will have a positive effect on the environment. Thus, we should do something that can help them to achieve the target for this goal. For example, collaborate with NGOs and the public sector to help promote sustainable growth within developing countries and think about how the industry impacts your life and well-being and use social media to push for policymakers to prioritize the SDGs. 

Reduce inequality within and among countries.

Example Project: SkillLab

The goal is to reduce inequalities and I strongly agree with this goal because it can help people who are having personally experienced discrimination on at least one of the grounds established by international human rights. Inequalities based on income, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, class, ethnicity, religion and opportunity continue to persist across the world. Inequality threatens long-term social and economic development, harms poverty reduction and destroys people’s sense of fulfilment and self-worth. This, in turn, can breed crime, disease and environmental degradation.

We cannot achieve sustainable development and make the planet better for all if people are excluded from the chance for a better life. And despite some positive signs, inequality is growing for more than 70 per cent of the global population, exacerbating the risks of divisions and hampering economic and social development. Furthermore, COVID-19 is hitting the most vulnerable people the hardest, and those same groups are often experiencing increased discrimination.

For instance, women and children with a lack of access to healthcare die each day from preventable diseases such as measles and tuberculosis or in childbirth. Older persons, migrants and refugees face a lack of opportunities and discrimination – an issue that affects every country in the world. One in five persons reported being discriminated against on at least one ground of discrimination prohibited by international human rights law. Among those with disabilities, 3 in 10 personally experienced discrimination, with higher levels still among women with disabilities, including based on religion, ethnicity and sex, pointing to the urgent need for measures to tackle multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

Within countries, it is important to empower and promote inclusive social and economic growth. We can ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of income if we eliminate discriminatory laws, policies and practices. Among countries, we need to ensure that developing countries are better represented in decision-making on global issues so that solutions can be more effective, credible and accountable. Governments and other stakeholders can also promote safe, regular and responsible migration, including through planned and well-managed policies, for the millions of people who have left their homes seeking better lives due to war, discrimination, poverty, lack of opportunity and other drivers of migration. 

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Example Project: OKO Finance

There are some of the most pressing challenges that cities face today. So, this goal come to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Inequality and the levels of urban energy consumption and pollution are some of the challenges. Cities occupy just 3 per cent of the Earth’s land but account for 60-80 per cent of energy consumption and 75 per cent of carbon emissions. Many cities are also more vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters due to their high concentration of people and location so building urban resilience is crucial to avoid human, social and economic losses

I think this issue should take some actions because all these issues will eventually affect every citizen. Inequality can lead to unrest and insecurity, and pollution deteriorates everyone’s health and affects workers’ productivity therefore the economy and natural disasters have the potential to disrupt everyone’s lifestyles.

Thus, we can take an active interest in the governance and management of our city. Advocate for the kind of city we believe we need. Develop a vision for your building, street, and neighbourhood, and act on that vision. Are there enough jobs? Can your children walk to school safely? Can you walk with your family at night? How far is the nearest public transport? What’s the air quality like? What are your shared public spaces like? The better the conditions you create in your community, the greater the effect on the quality of life. I believe all of this can help to achieve this goal successfully.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Example Project: DeCarbonUs

Economic and social progress over the last century has been accompanied by environmental degradation that is endangering the very systems on which our future development and very survival depend. COVID-19 offers an opportunity to develop recovery plans that will reverse current trends and shift our consumption and production patterns to a more sustainable course. A successful transition will mean improvements in resource efficiency, consideration of the entire life cycle of economic activities, and active engagement in multilateral environmental agreements production patterns to a more sustainable course. A successful transition will mean improvements in resource efficiency, consideration of the entire life cycle of economic activities, and active engagement in multilateral environmental agreements.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.

Climate change is affecting every country in the world. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives and livelihoods, especially for the most vulnerable. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, and weather events are becoming more extreme, affecting more than 39 million people in 2018. What happens if we don’t take action? If left unchecked, climate change will cause average global temperatures to increase beyond 3°C, and will adversely affect every ecosystem. Already, we are seeing how climate change can exacerbate storms and disasters, and threats such as food and water scarcity, which can lead to conflict. Doing nothing will end up costing us a lot more than if we take action now. We have an opportunity to take actions that will lead to more jobs, great prosperity, and better lives for all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Oceans are our planet’s life support and regulate the global climate system. They are the world’s largest ecosystem, home to nearly a million known species and containing vast untapped potential for scientific discovery. Oceans and fisheries continue to support the global population’s economic, social and environmental needs. Despite the critical importance of conserving oceans, decades of irresponsible exploitation have led to an alarming level of degradation. Current efforts to protect key marine environments and small-scale fisheries, and to invest in ocean science are not yet meeting the urgent need to safeguard this vast, yet fragile, resource. The drastic reduction in human activity brought about by the COVID-19 crisis, while rooted in tragedy, is a chance for oceans to recuperate. It is also an opportunity to chart a sustainable recovery path that will ensure livelihoods for decades to come in harmony with the natural environment.

For open ocean and deep sea areas, sustainability can be achieved only through increased international cooperation to protect vulnerable habitats. Establishing comprehensive, effective and equitably managed systems of government-protected areas should be pursued to conserve biodiversity and ensure a sustainable future for the fishing industry. On a local level, we should make ocean-friendly choices when buying products or eating food derived from oceans and consume only what we need. Selecting certified products is a good place to start. We should eliminate plastic usage as much as possible and organize beach clean-ups. Most importantly, we can spread the message about how important marine life is and why we need to protect it

Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, manage forests, combat desertification and biodiversity loss and halt and reserve land degradation.

Forests cover nearly 31 per cent of our planet’s land area. From the air we breathe to the water we drink, to the food we eat–forests sustain us. Biodiversity and the ecosystem services it underpins can also be the basis for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies as they can deliver benefits that will increase the resilience of people to the impacts of climate change.

Every year, some two million people, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, die from neglected zoonotic diseases. The same outbreaks can cause severe illness, deaths, and productivity losses among livestock populations in the developing world, a major problem that keeps hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers in severe poverty.

Some things we can do to help include recycling, eating a locally-based diet that is sustainably sourced, and consuming only what we need. We must be respectful toward wildlife and only take part in ecotourism opportunities that are responsibly and ethically run in order to prevent wildlife disturbance. Well-managed protected areas support healthy ecosystems, which in turn keep people healthy. It is therefore critical to secure the involvement of the local communities in the development and management of these protected areas.

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions.

People everywhere need to be free of fear from all forms of violence and feel safe as they go about their lives whatever their ethnicity, faith or sexual orientation. Conflict, insecurity, weak institutions and limited access to justice remain threats to sustainable development. Governments, civil society and communities must work together to implement lasting solutions to reduce violence, deliver justice, combat corruption and ensure inclusive participation at all times.

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

In light of the consequences of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen that strengthening multilateralism and global partnerships are more important than ever if we are to solve the world’s problems. The Sustainable Development Goals remain the framework for building back better. We need everyone to come together governments, civil society, scientists, academia and the private sector. We are all in this together. What can we do to help is we can join or create a group in your local community that seeks to mobilize action on the implementation of the SDGs and register our initiatives on the SDGs Partnerships Platform to inform, educate, network, and be inspired!