A million people in every corner of the world mobilizing to #act4SDGs at the UN General Assembly

On 25 September 2018, a million people in over 1300 cities in 165 countries in actions led by 1800 individuals and organizations took part in a worldwide mass mobilization for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mangrove restoration in Brazil, top chefs competing to re-discover forgotten foods in New York, or beach clean ups in the Maldives are some of the SDG actions organisations and individuals organized, encouraging a global movement for the achievement of the SDGs.

View highlights

The Global Day to #act4SDGs coincided with the opening of the UN General Assembly, which presented a unique opportunity to amplify the actions being taken across the world and bring them to the attention of world leaders. See the Global Action Hour which was broadcast live at the SDG Action Zone.http://act4sdgs.org

Speakers:

Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations via video message
HE Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, via video message
Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the EU Commission via video message
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC
Mitchell Toomey, Director, UN SDG Action Campaign
Cristina Gallach, High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda of Spain
Oli Henman, Global Coordinator, Action for Sustainable Development

Introducing:

PROGRAMME:

Welcome and Introduction to the Global Day to Act4SDGs
Mitchell Toomey, Director, United Nations SDG Action Campaign
Taking Engagement Forward
Video message from Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy & Vice President of the EU Commission
Global Day as it happens
Moderator – Yusuf Omar, Founder of Hashtag Our Stories
Cleaning up polluted beaches and building cultural bridges in the Maldives
Where: Malé, Maldives,
By: Peace Boat, JCI Kaafu
Presented by Yoskihoka Tatsuya, Co-Founder and Director, Peace Boat
450 SDG Changemakers turn ideas into daily practice in Amsterdam
Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands
By: SDG Charter, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Municipality of Amsterdam and NCDO
Presented by Jilt Van Schayik, UN SDG Action Campaign and former Dutch Youth Delegate
Climate question from Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive Secretary
200 organisations in Italy join forces to viralize sustainable development
Where: Italy
By Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS)
Video
Empowering Youth to tackle Health and Peace through Creativity
Where: Nigeria
By: Creative Youth, Covenant University
Presented by Foluke Michael from Creative Youth Development Initiative and UN SDG Action Award Winner
World’s Largest Photo Book to capture youth stories from Nigeria’s Informal Settlements
Where: Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
Canon, Slum- Art Project
Video
Reducing Carbon Emissions through Mangrove Restoration in Rio
Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
By: Instituto Mar Urbano, UNDP RIO+Centre
Video
Top chefs compete to highlight forgotten foods
Where: New York City, United States
By: Food Forever Experience NYC, Crop Trust
Presented by Erik Oberholtzer, Chef and Founder of Tender Greens
Government, civil society and local fisherfolk join forces to tackling ocean pollution
Where: Philippines
By: GCAP Philippines
Presented by Becky Malay, GCAP Philippines on Video
26 youth advocates capture citizens views on the SDGs in Asia
Where: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam
By: ASEAN MY World 2030 Initiative, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and UNV Asia-Pacific
Video
Building spaces for Orphans to Play
Where: Morocco
By: Bloom Charity
Video
Hashtag Our Stories
Yusuf Omar, Founder
Guatemalan students from indigenous communities show that big SDG changes can come in small sizes
Where: Guatemala city
By: Education for Sharing
Video
Week of Action for SDGs Brings people together across Mexico
Where: México
By: MY World México
Presented by Karol Arambula, Founder, MYWorld Mexico
200 Youth Discuss citizen engagement and open democracies in Peru
Where: Lima, Perú
By: Millennials Movement
Video
Young people share their SDG 360° videos from Brazil, Kenya, Germany & the United States
By: Digital Promise, Oculus, MY World 360
Presented by Dimitri Moore, Digital Promise and Christina Jackson, Oculus
Promoting fair food and fashion in Bonn
Where: Bonn, Germany
By: City of Bonn
Video
Good Life Goals find sustainable development actions for everyone to take
Where: Worldwide
By: Futerra
Presented by Solitaire Townsend, Co-Founder, Futerra
From Local to Global Action
Oli Henman, Global Coordinator, Action for Sustainable Development
Young Leaders for the SDGs: powered by the Office of the Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Youth
Ezequiel Vedana Da Rosa (Brazil)
Amelie Jezabel Mariage (Spain)
Video message from HE Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria
The Way Ahead
Cristina Gallach
High Commissioner for Agenda 2030, Government of Spain
Thank you for taking action
Video message from Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary General

Every year on the September 25th anniversary of the SDGs, the UN SDG Action Campaign joins forces with Action for Sustainable Development, GCAP and thousands of partners to mobilize the UN, national and local governments, youth groups, civil-society organizations, the media, and institutions from every corner of the world with a global call to Act for the SDGs.

Learn about this and other thousands of actions taking place across the world on 25 September and join the movement.

The event can be watched LIVE at http://act4sdgs.org

Or follow the SDG Action live on #Act4SDGS,

Twitter: @SDGAction Facebook: @SDGAction Instagram: @SDGAction

Choices and Habits-Reducing Food Waste in Singapore

According to the World Food Programme, (WFP), 108 Million People in the World face severe food insecurity. And yet, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that one-third of the world’s food production (1,300 tonnes) is lost or wasted. Despite having a population of 5.7 million, the small island state of Singapore wasted about 810 million kilograms of food in 2017.

Goal 12 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030. In the spirit of Goal 12, here is a humble effort I made to raise awareness about the food waste issue in Singapore and the simple steps all of us can take to reduce food waste.

Please share the video with the hashtags #act4sdgs #reducefoodwaste #sdg12 #responsibleconsumption #singapore

Increase youth voices on SDGs for the Global Day of Action

To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 25 September, we are excited to share with you some incredible actions of our partners to celebrate the Global Day to #act4SDGs across the Asia-Pacific.

Youth for Sustainable Impact (YSI) is a youth-led organization working to capture voices, opinions, priorities, and views of people to affect the development agenda and policy-making in India. Kishore G, YSI founder, has a great passion to raise awareness and promote SDGs in India. Following his participation at the Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development in Bonn 2018, Kishore returned to India and established his own youth organization to promote the MY World Survey across India. YSI will visit numerous schools and talks to students about SDGs on 25 September. Using fun activities such as SDGs games, community problem-solving, career guidance and life lessons, experience sharing sessions, YSI plans to collect opinions of Indian youth through the MY World Survey as well as to provide them knowledge and skills on SDGs. More information on YSI’s action can be found here.

Kishore talked about SDGs at a school and conducted MY World survey

The Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) is a non-profit organization, focusing on youth development, community development and international volunteer exchange in Hanoi, Vietnam. To promote awareness on SDGs, CSDS will organize a big event Autumn Festival: Act local, impact global at University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi on 23 September. There will be numerous events happening on the day to involve and empower Vietnamese youths to act for SDGs. Exhibitions of youth projects on community development, market fairs to promote sustainable lifestyles, elevator challenges to seek for local community’s problems, youth initiative awards for outstanding youths who are actively working on SDGs will be among one of the activities during the event. CSDS also work closely with UNDP Vietnam, UN Women and Vietnamese ASEAN MY World advocates to celebrate the day.

Do you have an outstanding idea to #Act4Sdgs #By 2030? Are you interested to join the global movement? Then register your action here

The PEACE BOAT sails from Yokohama to take the Sustainable Development Goals around the globe.

On Saturday 1 September, hundreds of people gathered at the port of Yokohama to say goodbye to the Peace Boat’s 99th Global Voyage, the first to sail in collaboration with the UN SDG Action Campaign. Departing from Yokohama, Japan, on September 1 and returning on December 17, 2018, Peace Boat will visit to 24 ports in 23 countries in 4 months, to mobilize people to take action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In collaboration with the UN SDG Action Campaign, Peace Boat’s Global Voyages will conduct education, advocacy, capacity building and awareness raising for the SDGs.

“Inspiring and engaging everyone to take action is the only way the SDGs will be achieved. Combining the expertise, tools, and creativity of the UN SDG Action Campaign with the reach and the innovative approach of the Peace Boat, will allow us to mobilize more individuals to step forward and join the global movement taking action for the SDGs.” said the Global Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign, Mitchell Toomey. Peace Boat Director and Founder, Yoshioka Tatsuya said “Peace Boat and the UN SDG Action Campaign share common goals. Working together, we will be able to engage more people to achieve the 2030 Agenda“.

Various related events will be held during the voyage, including an event together with the UNDP in Male, the capital of the Maldives, on September 17 and actions as part of the mass mobilization day on the SDGs anniversary o 25 September, the Global Day to #Act4SDGs.

Hundreds of people gathered to say goodbye to the Peace Boat in Yokohama, Japan, sailing to take the SDGs around the globe.

Both entities will join forces in the development of Peace Boat’s educational programming, including Global University and SDG Youth Programmes, through guest educators from the Campaign and partner networks, the global citizen platform MY World and the MY World photo and video stories.

Furthermore, the UN SDG Action Campaign and Peace Boat will collaborate to develop SDG educational and visual content, events and exhibitions to make the SDGs part of the Peace Boat’s Ecoship which will sail as the Flagship for the SDGs and be the platform for Peace Boat’s future voyages.

In an effort to strengthen the inclusivity and reach of their respective activities, Peace Boat and the UN SDG Action Campaign will continue to work together around the UN SDG Action Campaign flagship initiatives such as the Global day to Act for SDGs on September 25th, the SDG Action Awards, and the Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development, and onboard Peace Boat’s ship and in ports visited on the voyages.

The United Nations SDG Action Campaign and Peace Boat announced their collaboration through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, in July.

Peace Boat and the UN SDG Action Campaign will take the SDGs around the world2

Peace Boat and the UN SDG Action Campaign will take the SDGs around the world3

Peace Boat and the UN SDG Action Campaign will take the SDGs around the world4

Full itinerary and to follow the 99th Voyage

or learn more about t he Peace Boat

The Power Of Youth in Indonesia to Challenge Harmful Narratives

Angga Dwi Martha – “Now the world is currently undergoing drastic changes in climate change, social and economic inequality, to politic and humanity crisis. Youths are usually faced with situations in which they do not have a safe space to move, to talk and to explore their potentials. With social media and other online communication platforms, youths have figured out a new way to include and innovate themselves to create a virtual and physical space for their own growth. Currently, creative art spaces like; music, poetry and digital media have significant roles on creating these spaces.”

Jakarta 11 August 2018 – 2030 Youth Force Indonesia held a Talk show and workshop in commemorating International Youth Day 2018 (IYD 2018). The event that was held in Google Office Indonesia was specifically for youths aged 15 till 30 who were interested in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have the knowledgeable skills in the arts and literacy. The event that took the theme Safe Spaces For Youth “Freedom Of Expression: The Power Of Youth To Challenge Harmful Narratives” consists of 2 (two) session of activities which are Talk show and Workshop. We also introduced the programs that aimed to raise awareness on the attainment of SDGs, for instance ASEAN My World 2030, SDGs Plogging and SDGs Song.

The Talk show session invited the representatives from Google Indonesia, Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) Indonesia, Ministry of National Development (Bappenas) and UNDP as the speakers. This session discussed about the roles of art and literacy in combating harmful narratives. Creative counter-narratives will play a significant role in tackling the above mentioned problems. Counter-narratives are a message that offers a positive alternative to extremist propaganda or aim to deconstruct or delegitimize extremist narrative, this could involve focusing on what youth are interested in, by offering positives stories about shared values, open mindedness, and diversity

65 total number of participants that had been selected were divided into 3 (three) group of Workshop class according to their own interests of arts. The Workshop class consisted of Poetry class, Digital Creative class and Performing Art class that mentored by the experts. The Poetry class was mentored by Bentara Bumi as the initiator of Malam Puisi, the Digital Creative class was mentored by Cameo Project (Creator for Changes from Indonesia) and Performing Art class was mentored by Jakarta Performing Art Community (JPAC). During 2 hours, the participants got insights from the facilitator about how to transform dialogue peace into art and literacy.

What makes the Workshop class interesting and different is the project behind it, the participants are expected to make an output from the workshop that they choose. on 19 August, the participants will be performed in front of the audice to share their creativity and art on peace. the following activity include peace and charity performance.

After participating in the Talk show and Workshop, all the participants are expected to bring changes to the community, especially to fellow youths to combat harmful narratives such as violent extremism, hate speech, bullying online and black campaign. From there onwards, safe spaces will be made to maximize the potentials of youth so that they can contribute more to the community.

Youth Leaders Engage with UN SDG Action Campaign during ECOSOC Youth Forum

The 2018 ECOSOC Youth Forum took place on 30 – 31 January 2018 at the UN HQ in New York City. The Youth Forum brought together hundreds of young leaders, ministers, civil society organisations and UN agencies to discuss the role of youth in building sustainable and resilient urban and rural communities.

The Forum presented the UN SDG Action Campaign with the opportunity to bring the SDGs to the forefront of the discussions, to re-connect with some of our longstanding partners, as well as to inspire young leaders to #Act4SDGs and to foster new partnerships.

Highlights

Campaign workshop for Youth Leaders from Northern Africa & Arab States:

A workshop was organized to inform and train twenty young change-makers from the UNDP Youth Leadership Program on SDG Action campaigning. Stories from the Humans of MY World Campaign (now in Nigeria!) were shared, MY World 2030 was introduced as both a data collection and advocacy tool, and a brainstorm took place about possible activities to be carried out during the Global Day of Action.

Youth Leaders from Northern Africa and Arab States explain how to #Act4SDGs during the ECOSOC Youth Forum. #Youth2030

Side-event on the importance of mainstreaming the SDGs in Education:

Organized by UN Youth Delegates and hosted at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, a discussion took place on how to better integrate the SDGs in our education systems. Rosario Gravito shared best practices from the Millennials Movement in Peru, while other campaigns and toolkits such as the World Largest Lesson (Project Everyone), MY World 2030 and MY Campus (UN SDG Action Campaign) were shared.
More information can be found here!

UN Virtual Reality (UNVR) experience during DPI NGO Youth Representatives Event

During DPI’s youth event Virtual Reality Screening was used to transport viewers into real life crisis situations in both urban and rural areas. The concept has proven it’s impact, and also this time around youth leaders were both touched and inspired by the immersive storytelling portfolio of UNVR.

Important: Youth Leaders, Civil Society organisations, and others, can still register for the Global Festival of Action on Sustainable Development taking place in Bonn on 21-23 March. Register here!

All questions related to our youth engagement portfolio may be directed to jilt.vanschayik@sdgactioncampaign.org

Innovation and People’s Actions at the heart of the 72nd UN General Assembly

High-Level events, interactive discussions, data showcases, the latest immersive experiences, UNVR screenings and specially thousands of people and over 500 organisations around the world mobilising action to #ACT4SDGs… we are looking back on a successful UN General Assembly and first Global mobilisation to celebrate the SDGs Anniversary.

At the 72 UN General Assembly the UN SDG Action Campaign provided forums to experience cutting-edge technologies and to explore new ways to scale those innovations, to transfer skills and provide the necessary tools for individuals to be able to own and take action for the SDGs from across the globe, and to celebrate the actions and innovations that are already happening. Here are some of the highlights:

SDG Interactive Exhibition

Hundreds of visitors came by the SDG Interactive Exhibition, curated by the UN SDG Action Campaign, to take part in a multitude of immersive experiences and participatory activations that support the UN system in communicating and advocating for the advancement of the SDGs. The experiences provided a voice to people around the world and a peek into how the SDGs manifest in their daily lives, giving delegates at the 72nd General Assembly the chance to understand their realities at this important annual political forum.

Visitors experienced how today’s available and low cost technology can address tomorrows constraints on industry and life through today’s available, through the SIMTAINER. Light, a first-of-its-kind live-synced VR experience created by Mae allowed visitors to reveal the underlying fabric of our shared humanity and invite a posture of humility in the face of the radical collaboration required by all of us to accomplish the SDGs.

Moving from empathy to action, visitors could also discover and share citizen perceptions on the SDGs with real time SDG data visualizations, sharing their views on SDG progress through the MY World 2030 survey, and the social media commitment capsules at the #Act4SDGs corner.

High-Level Event on Innovation and Technology: SDG Innovation

On Monday 18 September, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (UN Global Pulse) and the SDG Action Campaign convened governments, CEOs of major technology leading companies and innovators at the High-Level Event on SDG Innovation during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.

This unique event exposed governments to breakthrough ideas and innovations available, and leading tech innovators to the concrete problematics and challenges of countries in advancing the Agenda 2030. H.E. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd General Assembly opened the event. Among the group of participants were: H.E. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia and H.E. Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Environment and Climate Change of United Arab Emirates, Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn, Marc Benioff, Founder and CEO of Salesforce, Ashish Thakkar, Founder of Mara Group and Chair of the UN Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council.

“To achieve the SDGs, governments, NGOs and the private sector must all work together to unleash a massive wave of entrepreneurship that generates the breakthrough companies at a record pace. That is how we will create greener power, distribute more food and create hundreds thousands of new jobs for the growing middleclass”
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn

SDG Action Campaign at the SDG Media Zone

The SDG Media Zone aims to engage people all over the world in the important conversations happening during this high-level week of the UN General Assembly and to strengthen the commitment of the international community in support of the 2030 Agenda.

The Campaign programmed and participated in 2 sessions:

Data tells the story on the SDGs

Mitchell Toomey, Director SDG Action Campaign with Robert Kirkpatrick, Director, UN Global Pulse Moderated by Emily Courey Pryor, Executive Director Data2X

The Future We Want in Virtual Reality

Moderated by Kristin Gutekunst,Executive Producer, UN SDG Action Campaign, featuring Monique Marian, BU Architect, Grimshaw Architects
and Marina Gorbis, Executive Director, Institute for the Future.

The UN SDG Action Campaign also participated in the Media for Social Impact Summit, our Global Director, Mitchell Toomey gave a keynote address regarding Action for the SDGs, and Kristin Gutekunst, Executive Producer of the UNVR project, moderated the exciting panel: Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Virtually Reporting the Realities of the SDGs. Find out more

Data Playground: Celebrating data, innovation and technology for the SDGs

The UN SDG Action Campaign, UN Global Pulse, and Microsoft organised the fourth annual Data Playground, an interactive event showcasing data and technological innovations for the SDGs. Innovators across the UN and private and public sector joined for an evening to discuss and explore opportunities for accelerating sustainable development solutions. Read full post

The Global People’s Summit

The UN SDG Action Campaign participated in the first ever Global People’s Summit for Sustainable Development to facilitate a series of activations and calls to action. 84 MILLION people were reached in 160 COUNTRIES

Launch of the ASEAN MY World 2030 survey

The ASEAN MY World survey was officially launched by the UNDP Administrator and all Foreign Ministers from the ASEAN region.

“Multi-stakeholder participation and inclusion are recognized as key drivers of success; however there is still a need to increase public awareness and ownership. The ASEAN MY World survey will increase public awareness and capture priorities and perceptions of progress on the agendas.”
Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UNDP

The ASEAN MY World survey will increase public awareness and capture priorities and perceptions of progress on the agendas, interpret peoples’ aspirations towards the ASEAN Community Vision and the SDGs at the national and regional level, and subsequently help shape policy recommendations and plans of action for ASEAN Member States to achieve the agenda/vision in a timely manner.

Read the complete speech or go to the ASEAN My World 2030 Survey: asean.myworld2030.org

Global Day of Action for SDGs – We the People #Act4SDGs

On 25 September, 2017 – the second anniversary of the ratification of the SDGs. The UN SDG Action Campaign, together with the World We Want 2030, local chapters of the Global Campaign Against Poverty (GCAP), and Action for Sustainable Development, joined forces to invite people around the world to take action and send a strong signal to leaders about the importance of the SDGs.

The result? Thousands of volunteers and citizens around the world, celebrities, journalists and thought leaders joined to inspire people to collectively achieve the SDGs:

500 organisations
1000 actions
116 countries and 380 cities
11,000 tweets
84 million people reached globally

Explore the actions and join us: www.Act4SDGs.org