Together We Can
In my humanities class, Sustainable Development goals and me, we learned about taking action order to make a change and progress on achieving sustainability. We focused on mostly focused on SDG 3, 11, and 17. We went on field experiences to see part of these SDGs in action. We were then given the assignment to make a project to call people to action on one of these SDG's and make changes. So for this I chose SDG 17, partnership for the goals.
source: United Nations Sustainable development goals
I was asked to interview people and ask them whether they believed sustainable development was possible or not. I interviewed a total of 3 people from different age groups, this included my middle school teacher ( a full grown adult), my older sister ( a young adult), and my cousin ( a teenager). My teacher believed it was possible although very challenging she believed it could happen. My older sister believed in a perfect world we could achieve it but in today’s current reality it’s not likely. My Cousin straight out believed they were not possible. While they all seemed to have very different answers, while answering the question they all said one thing. That was that in order to sustainable development to be possible we needed cooperation, not just partial but whole cooperation of the governments and the people in order to get anything done. This got me thinking about Sustainable development goal number 17, partnership for the goals. In this goal it is made clear that we need to have strong team work to better our world. So in order to change our world we need to be in it together because it’s all or nothing.
Source: pxhere free images
SDG 17, Partnership for the goals, plays a big role in achieving our other SDGS as it requires countries to help one another and partner to create a better world for everyone involved. SDG 17 overall goal is to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” In other words it’s to work on our teamwork in order to better our partnerships and actually make progress on sustainable development. But in order to have these partnerships we all need to communicate, which is where the internet plays a big part. We have made progress on increasing the number of online users in less developed countries as in the most current report from the United Nations, which was released at the end of 2018, states that “more than half the world’s population (3.9 billion people) had access to the Internet– a step towards a more inclusive global information society” So with more people using the internet we are making progress towards a more connected world in which everyone would be able to connect with others on the other half of the globe. While we have made progress in that we have not made much progress when it comes to financial aspects such as Official Development Assistance (ODA). According to the U.N 2019 report on SDG 17 “Net ODA totalled $149 billion in 2018, down by 2.7 per cent in real terms from 2017” meaning donor countries are not donating as much as what they were initially. Which meant there was less to go around Less developed countries and if they are not getting the necessary aid it would lower their chances of being able to better their country. Luckily there is some countries and organizations putting in their efforts to make this SDG a reality.
One of these such countries that has been working to make SDG 17 a reality is Canada. Not only have they made sure they are helping achieve this aspects of this SDG in their own country but they are also helping other LDC countries. A step they have taken in order to work towards this SDG from the technology side of this is they have made sure people in their own country have access to some type of internet for them to connect with others. We can see the results of this as according to the official website of the Canadian government, their percentages of people who had access to the internet in 2013 was “86%” but in 2019 that percentage rose to “91%” which is a pretty good rise of 5%. This means more of their population is able to access information and public knowledge that they couldn’t as easily have accessed before. Then they have also been putting in amounts of money into helping other LDC and in 2015 according to the same website they gave a total of “$283,975,228 [to] financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries” which is quite a lot of money that Canada is putting forth in order to help other countries that need it. They are also working on projects such as the “100 x 100 Challenge: Unlocking US$100 million for 100,000 women entrepreneurs in Asia and the Pacific” project in which they are partnering with other organizations like the United Nations Capital Development Fund in order to make funds for Women entrepreneurs in LDC to have more opportunities and further their careers with the financial aid they are going to be given. With all these in mind there is no doubt Canada has been working towards achieving SDG 17.
Source: Stock Photo
Luckily you don’t need to be a whole country or a millionaire to help the progress being made on SDG 17. An average person can also contribute to the cause in other simple ways. One of the most simple ways is to just vote. Your vote counts as it can ultimately decides the type of people that are in higher power and picking certain people can have its positive impacts and its negative ones.Another action you can take is to get educated on who you can vote into power, make sure you are picking the right people that are willing to not only cooperate but also help other countries as this will help make it easier for other countries to actually want to help us and work with us. Finally something else you can do is get involved with local organizations. A simple google search can show many options for organizations so that you can get out there and get your voice heard by others on how you think we can improve your countries relations with others. While it may not seem like these actions have much of an impact they actually do because if at least a few people took these steps it can inspire others to do the same and if we get everyone on board we will be on track to assuring progress of SDG 17 for everyone. Alone we cannot make much progress but together we can do it and so much more.
source: sheppard express
I personally was also inspired and so made A poster and a poem dedicated to speak on this idea of togetherness that SDG 17 brings up.
Poem:
SDG 17 calls for a coming together. Without each other we can't get much done.
Sources:
I was asked to interview people and ask them whether they believed sustainable development was possible or not. I interviewed a total of 3 people from different age groups, this included my middle school teacher ( a full grown adult), my older sister ( a young adult), and my cousin ( a teenager). My teacher believed it was possible although very challenging she believed it could happen. My older sister believed in a perfect world we could achieve it but in today’s current reality it’s not likely. My Cousin straight out believed they were not possible. While they all seemed to have very different answers, while answering the question they all said one thing. That was that in order to sustainable development to be possible we needed cooperation, not just partial but whole cooperation of the governments and the people in order to get anything done. This got me thinking about Sustainable development goal number 17, partnership for the goals. In this goal it is made clear that we need to have strong team work to better our world. So in order to change our world we need to be in it together because it’s all or nothing.
SDG 17, Partnership for the goals, plays a big role in achieving our other SDGS as it requires countries to help one another and partner to create a better world for everyone involved. SDG 17 overall goal is to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” In other words it’s to work on our teamwork in order to better our partnerships and actually make progress on sustainable development. But in order to have these partnerships we all need to communicate, which is where the internet plays a big part. We have made progress on increasing the number of online users in less developed countries as in the most current report from the United Nations, which was released at the end of 2018, states that “more than half the world’s population (3.9 billion people) had access to the Internet– a step towards a more inclusive global information society” So with more people using the internet we are making progress towards a more connected world in which everyone would be able to connect with others on the other half of the globe. While we have made progress in that we have not made much progress when it comes to financial aspects such as Official Development Assistance (ODA). According to the U.N 2019 report on SDG 17 “Net ODA totalled $149 billion in 2018, down by 2.7 per cent in real terms from 2017” meaning donor countries are not donating as much as what they were initially. Which meant there was less to go around Less developed countries and if they are not getting the necessary aid it would lower their chances of being able to better their country. Luckily there is some countries and organizations putting in their efforts to make this SDG a reality.
One of these such countries that has been working to make SDG 17 a reality is Canada. Not only have they made sure they are helping achieve this aspects of this SDG in their own country but they are also helping other LDC countries. A step they have taken in order to work towards this SDG from the technology side of this is they have made sure people in their own country have access to some type of internet for them to connect with others. We can see the results of this as according to the official website of the Canadian government, their percentages of people who had access to the internet in 2013 was “86%” but in 2019 that percentage rose to “91%” which is a pretty good rise of 5%. This means more of their population is able to access information and public knowledge that they couldn’t as easily have accessed before. Then they have also been putting in amounts of money into helping other LDC and in 2015 according to the same website they gave a total of “$283,975,228 [to] financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries” which is quite a lot of money that Canada is putting forth in order to help other countries that need it. They are also working on projects such as the “100 x 100 Challenge: Unlocking US$100 million for 100,000 women entrepreneurs in Asia and the Pacific” project in which they are partnering with other organizations like the United Nations Capital Development Fund in order to make funds for Women entrepreneurs in LDC to have more opportunities and further their careers with the financial aid they are going to be given. With all these in mind there is no doubt Canada has been working towards achieving SDG 17.
Luckily you don’t need to be a whole country or a millionaire to help the progress being made on SDG 17. An average person can also contribute to the cause in other simple ways. One of the most simple ways is to just vote. Your vote counts as it can ultimately decides the type of people that are in higher power and picking certain people can have its positive impacts and its negative ones.Another action you can take is to get educated on who you can vote into power, make sure you are picking the right people that are willing to not only cooperate but also help other countries as this will help make it easier for other countries to actually want to help us and work with us. Finally something else you can do is get involved with local organizations. A simple google search can show many options for organizations so that you can get out there and get your voice heard by others on how you think we can improve your countries relations with others. While it may not seem like these actions have much of an impact they actually do because if at least a few people took these steps it can inspire others to do the same and if we get everyone on board we will be on track to assuring progress of SDG 17 for everyone. Alone we cannot make much progress but together we can do it and so much more.
I personally was also inspired and so made A poster and a poem dedicated to speak on this idea of togetherness that SDG 17 brings up.
Poem:
Together as people we can
If we hold hands and never let go
as if scared if we did the earth would be shaken to its core
So with hand in hand
Taking step by step
Achieving goal by goal
From less developed to developed
Nothing can stop us
As a whole
Doesn’t matter if you’re an LDC
Or need ODA
When we’re together terms don’t matter
And if you need a helping hand we’ll all be there
From the east to the west
From canada to south america
Take our hand
Don’t let these state borders stop you
Take our hand as no matter your official language
Your anguish is our anguish
So take our hand
together as people we can.
SDG 17 calls for a coming together. Without each other we can't get much done.
Sources:
- SDG Indicators.” United Nations, United Nations, https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-17/.
“100 x 100 Challenge: Unlocking US$100 Million for 100,000 Women Entrepreneurs in Asia and the Pacific - United Nations Partnerships for SDGs Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnership/?p=33882.
“Goal 17 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg17
Statistics Canada. “Goal 17 - Partnerships for the Goals.” Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, 17 Sept. 2019, https://www144.statcan.gc.ca/sdg-odd/goal-objectif17-eng.htm.
“Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals.” UNDP, https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-17-partnerships-for-the-goals.html.
Comments
Post a Comment