1. They are Global Goals.
Every member nation of the United Nations has signed up to them.
2. They are great “advocacy
levers” by which we can hold governments to account.
3. They provide an agenda for
the world community that will move it towards a more peaceful and just world.
4. They provide a way of
focusing on positive outcomes, rather than the negative and life-destroying
policies and attitudes that lead to conflict, global and regional tensions, and
war.
5. There are many wonderful,
positive initiatives going on around the world, many of which will help to
fulfil the SDGs. By focusing on the SDGs, we provide an “umbrella” under which,
or space within which, these initiatives can continue to develop and grow.
6. By focusing on the SDGs we
would free up resources to put towards positive development projects,
initiatives, and strategies.
7. They provide hope and a
focus of unity for citizens of civil societies who feel powerless and hopeless
in the face of the current state of the world.
8. Every nation faces
challenges and issues that need addressing on the domestic front. The SDGs
allow nations to acknowledge this and to focus on fixing these issues.
9. .The SDGs are a way of
acknowledging that “we are all in this together”.
10 . Nations and civil societies can identify which of the SDGs they
need to prioritise.
11. As the SDGs are “time-bound” and “targeted” they provide a way
in which progress can be monitored. However, these need not be a “straightjacket”,
as they are goals (which can be achieved within any timeframe, though it is
best that the progress towards them be steady).
12. Migration of people from places of conflict, poverty, or
repression and instability is a major problem. Concerted effort towards
achieving the SDGs may provide the conditions whereby people feel safe and more
secure in their home countries.
13. We cannot leave the wellbeing, the peace and prosperity of our
planet in the hands of politicians. By advocating for, and insisting on, the
fulfilment of the SDGs, we can put power in the hands of the people and civil
society to effect change, and force our politicians to act.
14. Most ordinary citizens want to be able to provide for their
families, have their children receive a good education, live in peace to follow
their aspirations, dreams, and leisure activities. The SDGs provide a platform
of peace on which such lives can be built, as people are brought out of
poverty, structural injustices are addressed and peace is brought closer.
15. The final SDG is about strengthening the means of implementation
and revitalising the global partnership for sustainable development. We need to
revitalise the global partnership at this critical juncture in our world’s
history. We can either do this: or continue a march towards a disintegration of
the world order and an ever likely move towards wider conflict.
16. The revitalisation of global partnership requires a strong
movement from the grassroots. We need to join across the globe in a
mass-movement demand for our governments to continue more vigorously towards
implementing the SDGs.
17. Our world cannot afford to waste time and money on
non-sustainable living and on creating the conditions for conflict, for
environmental degradation, and robbing people of hope for the future. The time
for fulfilling the SDGs is now: we have already wasted too much time, and
squandered opportunities.
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