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The Sustainable Development Goals: Are we ready for change?

Message from the Director, UNESCO MGIEP, Professor Anantha Kumar Duraiappah

Welcome to the second edition of The Blue Dot which comes at a time when countries are preparing for the UN General Assembly’s 70th session in September. At the Assembly, heads of state will convene to agree on a new and ambitious set of international goals aimed at improving the wellbeing of present and future generations around the world. While the previous targets, the Millennium Development Goals, are set to expire this year, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will now take center stage for decades to come.

In many ways, the SDGs are a welcome step forward. Their focus is not only on improving the wellbeing of present societies but also, in equal measure, on maintaining the improvements over time for future generations. This means that the notion of sustainability has been incorporated across the global agenda. Furthermore, compared to the previous eight MDGs, the new SDGs have more than doubled their number of targets to 17, and now include goals concerning equality, justice and peace. By including these goals, the focus shifts from developing countries to including developed countries, which also suffer from many of the problems these
goals address.

However, not all are convinced that the process which led to the development of the SDGs was robust, credible and even sensible. The International Council of Science Unions (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) have, in a joint paper, highlighted the lack of scientific rigor underlying the development of the SDGs. The Economist has labeled the SDGs the “Stupid Development Goals” for a variety of reasons which I will not delve into here.

Nevertheless, irrespective of scientific quality or number of goals, the question we must ask is whether societies across the world are ready to make the necessary changes in their value systems and behaviors to achieve these goals. The fundamental premise of the SDGs is to provide the basic and necessary constituents of wellbeing for all individuals to lead a “good life” which only some segments of populations across the world are presently enjoying. In a planet with finite resources, this will require some to give up some of their assets so that others
can benefit.

The good news is that the problem of inequality now features prominently in the new agenda, with an entire goal dedicated to its reduction. The challenge is to define what that will entail and how inequality reduction will be measured. Again, on a positive note, we have the tools and the measurements such as the Inclusive Wealth Index, the Social Progress Index, and the Better Life Index, among others, to help policymakers achieve this fundamental goal. The bad news, however, is that less focus has been placed on redesigning the institutions essential to providing the opportunities for those suffering from an unequal system to pave the way for change. In particular, when it comes to the institution of education, little has been done to empower young people to adapt to their changing environments and to lead socially responsible lives.

At UNESCO MGIEP we believe that our present education systems perpetuate these problems. We at the Institute are therefore developing and experimenting with new and innovative teaching and learning methods to transform current practices to help education systems respond to increasingly interconnected global challenges. Ultimately, our goal is to equip young people with the tools to implement the new SDGs and to create more peaceful and sustainable societies.

In the tradition of The Blue Dot, we have put together a collection of articles from some of the keenest minds in the industry, interviews from prominent social activists, features about UNESCO MGIEP’s most innovative programmes, and voices of the world’s youth on their perceptions of, and hopes for, the SDGs.

I hope you enjoy reading The Blue Dot and, as always, your feedback for improving future editions is warmly welcomed.

Anantha Kumar Duraiappah
Director, UNESCO MGIEP