In a few days, global Heads of State will adopt a new agenda that could change the face of the world as we know it.
From ending poverty in all its forms everywhere to achieving gender equality, taking urgent action to combat climate change and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, this sweeping agenda of 17 goals is as complex as it is necessary if in 15 years the world is to be on a sustainable path.
Amina Mohammed is Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on post-2015 development planning.
She’s the woman who has led the process of bringing all the moving parts of this complex agenda together.
“These 17 goals are a response to the situation we’re in now, unfinished business of the MDGs because there are still issues that we haven’t been able to resolve but the new issues, the new complexities and the misery we see around, how do we universally say we address this and that’s really what these 17 goals do, it’s a response to the problems that we have in this world.”
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are essentially a post-2015 development blueprint that spells out exactly what needs to be done to ensure a more egalitarian, peaceful and prosperous society come 2030.
But it’s a complex agenda due to it’s universality – the fact that this is a plan, a roadmap for all 193-member states of the UN and that unlike the MDGs, requires everybody to play their part.
Mohammed explains that the world is now inextricably linked, be it in the global economy, its response to Ebola or how the actions of some have made climate change a collective concern.
When asked what 2030 looks like if this agenda fails, Mohammed said: “Failure looks like… goodness me, almost 8 billion people and of that a large number of them will continue to increase the weight that we have from migration, so we’d have more people trying to get to greener pastures and in the process of it, dying. We’ll have more women who will not have access to healthcare services, I’m talking about a service but services throughout their life, they’ll continue to die in childbirth, the gains that we’re realized with children will be reversed, there will be many more conflicts, there will be issues around water scarcity, certainly you will have many more unemployed and so that will make for (as they say) all these idle minds will become the devils playing field and we will have more isolated conflicts that will cross border more easily.” This is an agenda about ending conflicts, it’s about people without jobs, about clean water and sanitation, responsible consumption and good governance that places human rights at the centre Unlike the MDGs, the post-2015 agenda is an inclusive one, with broad-based consultation between governments, civil society, academia and business.
And with that level of inclusivity, immediate action will be crucial.
“The next two years is what we should next think clearly about as we leave the halls of the UN, as we go home as presidents, how do we then translate our visions and the plans we have for our countries, integrating this and showing people where this is going. Every one of these people will see their aspirations in this framework.”
She called for political leaders to show their constituents a roadmap of what they intend to do while pointing to the crucial role of media and communication in order to galvanize momentum.
“Maybe it’s the 18th goal, you just might be right there.”
And on the all-important question of financing, Mohammed believes there’s more than enough to finance these goals.
“We know we’ve got trillions of dollars available to unlock so when someone says to me how much do we need, I say we’ve got so much in the global economy, what we need is a fraction, so when you see that the documents that were put together to help our discussion by the bank and the IMF and other international partners on the billions to trillions, it is about moving from billions to trillions and the resources are there for it. How to unlock them and I think that’s the big question.”
This is an agenda about ending conflicts, it’s about people without jobs, about clean water and sanitation, responsible consumption and good governance that places human rights at the centre.
Heads of State gather here later this week to endorse this agenda in what should be an elaborate photo opportunity that must
serve as a springboard for shifting the global paradigm that currently fails so many.
The stage set for a bold new world, only this isn’t the movies.
– By Sherwin Bryce-Pease
