This new year marks the official launch of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted by world leaders last September in New York, this new agenda calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 15 years. This global “to-do” list aims to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, creating a more just world where no one is left behind.
Canada has made a commitment to these global goals. In his ministerial mandate letter to Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and la Francophonie, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that a top priority will be to "refocus Canada’s development assistance on helping the poorest and most vulnerable, and supporting fragile states." He specifies that this will include "supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development....”
Many of GRAN’s issues are addressed in the new SDGs, including health, education, gender equality and peace. We are finding that all of the goals are interrelated. When progress is made on one goal, there is a positive impact on other goals.
The more that people know about the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the more effective the world will be at achieving them. Your help is needed to share the goals. Become more informed by following discussions and blogs, have conversations with family and friends, write Letters to the Editor and to your Member of Parliament, and share your knowledge and concerns on social media. If the goals are important to us, we will let our leaders know, and our leaders will work to make them happen.
Change will not happen without action and pressure from civil society and ordinary people everywhere. We need to hold our government accountable to the commitments made in New York in September. Let’s hope that 2016 is the year we all become involved and begin to create a more just and sustainable world.
Is the world ready to move from policy to action? What will Canada’s role be? What will your role be?
To find out more about the Global Goals go to: http://www.globalgoals.org
To see how education influences all of the Development Goals, have a look at the Global Partnership for Education’s most popular blog in 2015:
http://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/17-ways-education-influences-new-17-global-goals
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