The UN SDG Action Campaign strives to be a catalyst for the global movement for the SDGs by offering awareness raising, communications, innovation and citizen engagement solutions to partners across the globe. See below for some of our highlights from 2017 and see the 2017 report.
Worldwide Mass Mobilization
On the Global Day of Action on 25 September 2017, which commemorated the 2nd anniversary of the adoption of the SDGs, the UN SDG Action Campaign mobilized 670 partner organizations from 380 cities in 116 countries, which organized over 1,000 local events and actions. 84 million people were reached through communications channels.
Fostering a global community
The Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development is a ground-breaking annual event which brings together the global community working to advocate for and help deliver the SDGs. In March 2017, over 800 delegates from over 80 countries attended the inaugural Festival, and participated in over 50 sessions and 60 live events.
Catalyzing National SDG Campaigns
The UN SDG Action Campaign’s SDG tools and initiatives are currently being deployed in 53 countries (Africa and the Arab States: 12 countries, Asia and the Pacific: 18 countries, Europe: 14 countries, the Americas and the Caribbean: 9 countries) by UN Country Teams, national and local governments, civil society and the private sector.
SDG Global Tour
In 2016 and 2017, the Campaign convened over 50 SDG Action Hubs in 14 countries, to showcase people’s voices and bring citizen-generated big data and storytelling assets to decision-makers from Member States.
Launch of the Bonn Global Campaign Center
The Campaign launched the Global Campaign Center in Bonn, which provides real-time cutting-edge advocacy support, big data expertise and analytics to partners and Member States across the globe. The Campaign team is in place and the infrastructure is now established to continue the Campaign’s efforts in expanding the global SDG movement.
Citizen Engagement for the 2030 Agenda
MY World 2030 is an adaptable platform for citizen-generated data and engagement with the SDGs. 500,000 people from 170 countries have shared their voices on MY World 2030.
Sharing human stories
The photo-narrative series Humans of MY World sheds light on the human stories behind the SDGs. Since 2014, the Campaign has curated over 1,000 stories from over 50 countries. The stories have been featured in hundreds of exhibitions and campaigns, both online and offline, at events throughout the world.
Using virtual reality to inspire and engage
Since 2015, the Campaign has implemented the United Nations Virtual Reality (UNVR) initiative, which uses the power of immersive storytelling to inspire viewers towards increased empathy, action and positive social change for the Sustainable Development Goals. The Campaign has produced five films and helped launch many others to date. It curated exhibitions with films from across the UN system to support the UN’s mission, bringing them to decision makers and citizens through 100 VR viewings in 17 countries in 2016 and 2017.
Bringing together the best in social enterprise to crowdsource solutions for the SDGs
The Campaign partnered with Influx Trust and the Office of the President of the General Assembly to host simultaneous SDG hackathons around the world. In March 2017, 750 social innovators completed a 48 hour hackathon, organized simultaneously in 9 cities (Manama, Bali, Chandigarh, Geneva, Lagos, Lisbon, London, New York and Rio de Janeiro) on 5 continents. The winning teams presented their initiatives at the United Nations and on a new crowdfunding site.
Sharing inspiring and informative stories and amplifying voices
The SDG Studio is a unique platform for thought-leaders, decision-makers, influencers, and citizens to share revolutionary stories, and engage in insightful dialogues to inspire action for the SDGs all over the world and across generations and sectors. Over 100 SDG Studio sessions have been produced, creating Live and on-demand content and reaching millions of viewers.
Connecting innovation to the SDGs
The Campaign created a platform for collaboration between the UN and leading innovation companies through two high-level events at the UN and an innovation video series. As part of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs, the Campaign organized a high-level SDG innovation event at the UN Headquarters in New York in collaboration with the 71st President of the General Assembly and Tencent. Participants included Peter Diamandis, Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation and Singularity University, Astro Teller, entrepreneur and scientist leading Google X, Alphabet’s R&D Lab, Anousheh Ansari, Co-founder and Chairwoman of Prodea Systems and First Female Private Space Explorer, Lara Stein, Founder of TEDx and TED Prize. The event outcome was a series of SDG Studio Innovation and interview films which aims to inspire innovators and entrepreneurs to find solutions for the SDGs. A second edition of this event was organized during the 72nd UN General Assembly.