Sustainable Development Goals of immediate concern to South Sudanese and their families

By UNDP South Sudan

“Participating and helping with the MYWorld2030 survey is my way of helping my community and South Sudan at large.” 
Tabann de Bol, MYWorld Volunteer

What is needed in South Sudan? They share their voices for a better world.

The MYWorld2030 survey brings people’s voices into debates on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development – the Sustainable Development Goals – in South Sudan and across the World. It is one of the mechanisms through which disaggregated data is collected and analysis is enabled to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It therefore contributes to UNDP Strategic Plan outcome on advancing poverty eradication in all form and to UNDP Signature Solution of “keeping people out of poverty”. The project is financed by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

UNDP South Sudan, with financial support from the Government and People of Norway, mobilized Volunteers to reach out and collect data for the Survey. It is also one of the commitments of UNDP South Sudan to develop “tools and country knowledge products applied to mainstream Sustainable Development Goals.

This data and analysis is meant for multiple purposes. First, it is meant to create opportunities for SDG engagement and awareness. Second, it is meant to monitor which of the SDGs South Sudanese consider are of immediate concern to them and their families. Third, it is meant to monitor perceptions of South Sudanese overtime, across geographical areas (place), gender, and generation regarding whether the situation is getting better, worse, or remaining the same. Fourth, it is meant to inform public and private choices on which SDGs to invest to address the greatest concerns of the South Sudanese. Note that this will also change over time, place, gender and generation.

“People might ask, where are the youth of South Sudan? They are full of conflict, they like fighting… We can change this, step by step. Achieving SDGs is a collective effort, it is not done only from the government side”.
Emmanuel Lobijo, MYWorld Volunteer

For instance, if people are unaware of SDGs, it is an opportunity to create awareness. In the case of South Sudan, only 45.4 percent are aware. Creating more awareness will enable South Sudanese appreciate global development discourse. At least ½ of the South Sudanese consider SDG 1 (No poverty), 3 (Good health and wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education), 5(Gender Equality), 6(Clean water and Sanitation), and 16 (Peace, Justice and strong institutions) of immediate concern to them and their families. At least ½ of the South Sudanese consider SDG 1 (No poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 14 (Life below water) have become worse. These inform investment choices for the public and private sectors.

The data was collected in 2018 covering interviewing 464 males and 203 females, making a total of 667 people.

Low Awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals

Are you aware of the Sustainable Development Goals or ‘Global Goals’ signed by 193 World Leaders at the UN in September 2015? The results show that the awareness of SDGs is low (see Figure 1), with less than ½ of the respondents indicating that they are aware of the SDGs. That is true for male and females. However, slightly more than ½ of those with education level beyond secondary are aware.

Figure 1: Percent of respondents aware of the sustainable development goals

Which goals are of most immediate concern?

Which six of the following Global Goals are of immediate concern to you and your family? Respondents were asked to identify six of the Global Goals that are of immediate concern to them and their family (see Figure 2). At least ½ of the respondents indicated that SDG 1 (No poverty), 3 (Good health and wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education), 5(Gender Equality), 6(Clean water and Sanitation), and 16 (Peace, Justice and strong institutions) were of immediate concern to them and their families. We do not see major differences between men and women.

Figure 2: Global Goals that are of immediate concern to you and your family

Perceptions of progress on the Goals

Respondents were asked: “Would you say the situation on your chosen Goals has got better, stayed the same or got worse over the past twelve months?”. Respondents were of the view that At least ½ of the South Sudanese consider SDG 1 (No poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 14 (Life below water) have become worse.  This points to areas for possible investment by the public and private (national or international), especially in addressing poverty, hunger and decent work. 

Figure 3: Perception of whether the situation has gotten better or worse or remained the same for each SDG (Percent)

What does this mean for the National Development Strategy of South Sudan?

The National Development Strategy expected results and expected strategic deliverables are reproduced in Tables 1 and 2. In both instances, it is SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), 2 (No hunger), 3 (Health and wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education) and 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).

Except for SDG 9 addressed by the National Development Strategy, the strategy seems to address the SDGs of immediate concerns to South Sudanese and their families.

In addition, except for SDG 8, the NDS seems to prioritize those that the South Sudanese consider having become worse in the past 12 months.

Table 1: Expected Results

NDS Outcomes SDG Related Indicator NDS Indicator
Feel safe to go about their business SDG 16.1.4 Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live % of population that report feeling safe to go about their business % population that feel walking alone around the area they live
Enjoy stable prices SDG 2.c.1 Indicator of food price anomalies Rate of inflation (year-on-year)
Access to basic services SDG 16.6.2 Proportion of the population satisfied with their last experience of public services % of population satisfied with their last experience of public services

Table 2: Expected Strategic Deliverables

Strategic Deliverables SDG Related Indicator NDS Indicator
Create enabling conditions for and facilitate the voluntary return and integration of displaced South Sudanese SDG 16.1.5 Total number of people displaced internally due to conflict and violence % of total number of people displaced internally due to conflict and violence return % of total number of refugees due to conflict and violence return
Develop appropriate laws and enforce the rule of law NDS x: Proportion of people with rule of law related grievance that receive satisfactory redress Proportion of people with rule of law related grievances that receive satisfactory redress
Ensure secure access to adequate and nutritious food 2.4.1 Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture Net Cereal production
Silence the guns by facilitating a permanent cessation of hostilities 16.1.2 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population
Restore and expand the provision basic services 3.1.2 Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel 3.b.1 Proportion of the population with access to affordable medicines and vaccines on a sustainable basis Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (%)
Restore and expand the provision basic services cont. 4.1.1. Proportion of children and young people achieving at least a minimum proficiency level. 4.6.1 Percentage of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex Proportion of children completing primary education
Restore and maintain basic transport infrastructure such as roads and bridges SDG 9.1.1 Proportion of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road Proportion of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road

What does this mean for the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan?

The Revitalized Peace Agreement has 4 substantive chapters that directly relate to the SDGs which have been reflected as of immediate concerns to South Sudanese and their families and/or are considered to have worsened:

  • Chapter II: Permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements (SDSG 16);
  • Chapter III: Humanitarian assistance and reconstruction (SDG 3 & 4);
  • Chapter IV: Resource, economics and financial management (SDG 8);
  • Chapter V: Transitional justice, accountability, reconciliation, and healing (SDG 16);

The other chapters are strongly linked to organization:

  • Chapter I: Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity
  • Chapter VI: Parameters of Permanent Constitution
  • Chapter VII: Joint Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Chapter VIII: Supremacy of the agreement and procedures for amendment.

Volunteerism is driving SDG Action

By Hilary Ogbonna, UN SDG Action Campaign 

In the smouldering tropical heat in downtown Bamako, he has convened a group of volunteers to perform the daunting tasks of transmitting over 60,000 paper survey responses received from across Mali from citizens who have just informed their Government and the United Nations about their development priorities through MY World 2030 survey. For Sory Monekata, Executive Secretary of Forum of International NGOs in Mali, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015 is a major opportunity to advance transformative and inclusive development in which every Malian will have a voice and their priorities accommodated in national development planning.

Since the adoption of the SDGs, the UN SDG Action Campaign has worked with partners across the globe to inspire actions and multi-stakeholder engagement with the SDGs. Mr. Monekata belongs to a growing movement of partners nurtured by the UN SDG Action Campaign to mobilize citizens and volunteers at local levels to take SDG action through MY World survey. MY World is a unique framework which provides a platform for multi-level actors to interface to ensure inclusivity, participation and accountability in SDGs implementation, reporting and review.

When the Government of Mali and the UN Country Team agreed on the implementation of the MY World Survey as a citizen engagement tool in the report and review process for the SDGs in Mali, Mr. Monekata and other civil society actors seized the opportunity to mobilise hundreds of volunteers across the 10 regions to identify the priorities of the citizens and assess progress on SDGs implementation. The survey was aimed at generating citizens’ data which will bring peoples’ perspectives to the Voluntary National Review (VNR) for which Mali was a candidate country in 2018. The VNR is a process of self-appraisal by Member States in the implementation of the SDGs and presented at the annual High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York.

The MY World survey is an intensive exercise requiring huge human resources, commitment and passion. Volunteerism is at the heart of MY World survey. For instance, the first edition implemented between 2013-2015 saw over 5,000 volunteers working in Nigeria alone to reach 2.7 million people on what their priorities for a post MDGs agenda will be. The survey in Mali was not going to be any different. For two weeks, over 500 young volunteers were mobilized across the country to engage with communities, schools and markets, creating awareness on the SDGs and asking questions about their impact on the quality of life. The work of volunteers did not stop after the field work. For the first time in the implementation of the survey in any country, the UN SDG Action Campaign engaged online volunteers outside the project country to assist in the data entry of the responses from the survey. With the UN reporting deadline for fast approaching, the UN SDG Action Campaign put out a call to local volunteers in Bonn, Germany and to the Online UN Volunteers platform. More than 100 volunteers took up the call. Over 20 came in person and 35 more volunteered online to assist with the data entry over the next 5 days. From Nigeria alone, the Campaign and its local partners mobilized 50 volunteers from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for the MY World Mali data entry. In all there were volunteers from more than 24 countries from all the regions of the world.

The MY Wold survey in Mali is no doubt a best practice on the deployment of volunteers using online facilities. It is a clear indication that volunteerism is a huge asset in mobilizing for the SDGs as well as in building a global movement of actors holding governments accountable on their commitments to the SDGs through MY World survey. In the words of Marina Ponti, Acting Director of the SDG Action Campaign: “in MY World Survey, everyone is a volunteer – trainers, enumerators, respondents, data analysts, reporters, visualizers and many more. In all our work, from Nigeria to Morocco, Mexico to Bhutan, Cameroon to the Philippines nothing more expresses the cardinal role of volunteerism in driving campaigns and social change, than the MY World survey”.

As more Member States participate in the Voluntary National Review (VNR), the Campaign will be offering MY World 2030 survey as a ready tool and mechanism to create awareness, mobilise citizens’ participation in implementation and review and generate data for measuring progress and accountability.

Note:

The MY World survey was implemented in May and June 2018 in all the regions of Mali. The field work coordination and collation were conducted by the following Malian civil society organisations and coalitions: Conseil National de la Société Civile, Forum des ONG Internationales au Mali and Forum des Organisations de la Société Civile au Mali. The survey was supported by the UN Country Team and the Government of Mali. Technical assistance was provided by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the UN SDG Action Campaign.

 

Back to basics: Going Beyond Online for SDG Advocacy

Written by Marikris de Guzman and Jose Mateo dela Cruz, MY World 2030 Advocates in the Philippines

In a world where selfies and the need to post on social media all the events that are happening real-time are the norms, how do we make people understand that what is important is not actually seen online? The advocacy for sustainable development boils down to people.

 One former Philippine president said to her successor then – It’s the economy, student! But what is the economy if it does not serve the people. We believe that the same is true for the global goals – the centrality of the goals boils down to the development of the people’s lives and their quality of living.

Secondary students from a public high school in Pangasinan participating in the MY World Survey by answering the printed forms

A crucial component of the programme is the ASEAN MY World 2030 survey, which was launched by the 10 Ministers of Foreign Affairs of ASEAN and UNDP Administrator at the opening of the UN General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in September 2017. Through an online form, anyone can answer the survey and make their voice heard by the policymakers. An alternative to answering the online form is through a printed survey form. In addition to promoting the survey, advocates also conduct activities in their locality to promote awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals and feature advocates to demonstrate their local actions.

To bring forth localization, we need to focus not just on theories but on the lived experiences of people. This is where MYWorld becomes relevant – the survey and the Humans of MYWorld features are attempting to get a glimpse of the realities of people and try to measure if the aspirations of the new development agenda have borne significant changes for their lives or not.

As part of our strategy to increase awareness of SDGs in the grassroots level, we have conducted the survey in provincial areas using printed forms to give more space for participation to people who are not easily connected to the internet in the north and south of the Philippines. We did this through tapping local networks from our social capital and mobilizing them to support the conduct of the survey.

For us advocates, we wanted to go beyond promoting the global goals online. We hope to help in generating discussions and developing solutions within our communities. We believe that the people need to be enlightened regarding the SDGs than to merely contemplate about these and appreciate the Global Goals through social media sharing or even posting the goals that mean strongly for you. We knew that what we were doing has inherent limitations. The awareness survey is just the first step in promoting the implementation of the goals. People and institutions alike should be informed about the global goals first. With awareness, we hope that this can spark actions from institutions and communities to build collaboration and partnerships toward localizing and achieving the global goals at the grassroots level.

With this,  the real power of MYWorld as a platform comes in – it is bringing back the discussion of these lofty and ideal goals to the people who demanded for sustainable development years ago. Features, campaign hypes, and communication strategies are being done to make people work for the goals but are we venerating the goals as an idea without understanding the real end game?

Secondary students from a public high school in Pangasinan participating in the MYWorld Survey by answering the printed forms

This year, we are privileged to be part of the ASEAN MY World 2030 Programme which aims to empower young changemakers in the ASEAN region to take upon a leadership role for both the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, led by the United Nations SDG Action Campaign, the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and the UN Volunteers Asia-Pacific. Selected youth advocates from the region will lead and carry out a series of advocacy activities in order to raise awareness about both agendas and increase citizen engagement to inspire concrete actions on the ground.

The challenge here is how to create a society recognizing individual aspirations but collectively working for these shared goals. This means going beyond the comfort of the online space and going to the communities and people where development is greatly aspired for. The battle to make the goals a reality is still ongoing. It will not just end in an online campaign rather it will be a long march from one community to another to educate, advocate, and work together for the global goals. It is a battle for uplifting the lives of more than 7 billion people and preparing this generation and the next to create a sustainable future- a planet that each person can say:  MYWorld – a world that we want!


Young Southeast Asians Unite in Singapore to Create Solutions to the SDGs

Designed to empower Southeast Asian youth to tackle regional sustainability issues, Young Sustainable Impact Southeast Asia (YSI SEA)’s 14 week-long Innovation Programme 2018 came to an end on 30 July 2018. The programme brought forward 24 participants from across 8 Southeast Asian countries to kickstart solutions for select United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) faced in their local communities.

 

YSI SEA team, YSI Global team and participants of the Innovation Programme 2018 at University Town, National University of Singapore

After a three-round selection process with 800 applicants, the Innovation Programme 2018 nurtured the 24 most promising participants to build 6 social impact startup teams focusing on the UN SDGs. The Innovation Programme 2018 consisted of two main components: the Online Innovation Programme and the Singapore Innovation Programme. The Online Innovation Programme was conducted on various virtual collaboration platforms. Over three months, participant teams were guided by expert mentors and YSI SEA’s curated course modules, from problem identification to developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for market validation.

YSI SEA then flew its participants down to Singapore on 19 July 2018 for the Singapore Innovation Programme. Over the next ten days, teams were able to accelerate their innovation process in each other’s physical presence. Five courses were conducted to prepare teams for pitching day and beyond. The participants also attended a workshop on the UN SDGs, the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the platforms available to them to take actions for the UN SDGs.   

Pitching took place during the Singapore Sustainability Conference on 29 July 2018, to an invited group of angel and corporate investors, venture capitalists, accelerators and rotary members at the CDL Singapore Sustainability Academy.

The participants of the Singapore Innovation Week 2018 with Danat Tekie, Chief External Relations Officer, YSI Global during the Cultural Night

Leveraging on their diverse geographical and technical backgrounds, all six teams displayed their creative prowess in fashioning innovative solutions to the SDGS in the ASEAN region.

While Agrireach created the Reach Cube to tackle poor irrigation and drainage systems in agricultural fields in Philippines’, Allyasia developed an e-commerce platform to empower indigenous communities in Southeast Asia by reimagining their cultural heritage and to provide them with sustainable livelihoods. Gatewaste pitched a mobile application to optimise the recycling system in in Jakarta, by mobilising and empowering scavengers.

When asked about her thoughts on the Innovation Programme 2018, Sophia Enage, a participant of the Innovation Programme 2018 and co-founder of Mushroomable, said, “YSI SEA opened so many opportunities for learning and sharing wisdom as well as actualizing passions in life. In this whirlpool of experiences, learning and realizations, I want and will create sustainable and positive waves that the world will enjoy just like how YSI SEA made it possible for me.” Her startup idea aims to empower farmers to manage agricultural waste effectively, by utilizing rice by-products to grow mushrooms.

Sophia Enage, a participant of the Innovation Programme 2018 and co-founder of Mushroomable, pitching her idea during the Singapore Sustainable Conference 2018

The use of technology was apparent in the ideas generated by all the startups. With the goal of empowering healthcare providers in Philippines, Nutri-Alliance proposed an application that educates and supports healthcare providers, through access to digital information, education, and communication materials for healthcare and nutrition. Even Kembalikash, with the mission of educating Indonesian migrant workers f and their families in financial literacy, is working with industry leaders to provide an online payment and financial management platform.

Innovation Programme 2018 was a huge success, and the longevity of participants’ startup ideas for sustainable development will be seen to. These are made possible by a YSI SEA team which has worked tireless behind the scenes. “The whole YSI SEA team holds the SDGs closely to their hearts and their actions. We believe in the fundamental concept of leaving no one behind (and that includes mother nature) and the SDGs embody this concept perfectly”, said Sai Surya, the Managing Director of YSI SEA. “YSI SEA aims to empower these youth regardless of socio-economic backgrounds to solve the sustainable issues they are passionate about with a measurable impact. By creating impact-driven startups and impact-driven young leaders, we hope to push the SDGs and society forward,” he added.

YSI SEA team, YSI Global team and participants of the Innovation Programme 2018 at CDL Singapore Sustainability Academy

YSI SEA is one of the regional chapters of Young Sustainable Impact (YSI Global). YSI Global was started in Oslo, Norway by a group of youths passionate about bringing young people around the world together to tackle sustainability problems. They saw a lack of startups in the field of sustainable development aimed at alleviating bigger world problems, and decided to bridge the gap between idea generation and impact, as well as engage youth in sustainability and entrepreneurship.

When asked why YSI Global chose Singapore and Southeast Asia to work in the field of sustainable development, Marcus Bruns, Co-founder and CEO of YSI Global commented, “When YSI Global expanded to new regions, we based our decision on the people who applied to start locally. Not only were we lucky to have a great team in Singapore, we also have a youth population of 213 million in the ASEAN region, which makes it a great arena for sustainable innovation and community engagement.”

In addition to the Singapore Sustainability Conference, YSI SEA also organized the Singapore Sustainability Showcase on the same day. Graced by the Guest of Honour, Minister of Social and Family Development and Second Minister of National Development Desmond Lee, the showcase brought different NGOs, social entrepreneurs and corporations together to share on various sustainability initiatives and innovation in Singapore and the region. 

Minister Desmond Lee, the Minister of Social and Family Development and 2nd Minister of National Development in Singapore and Sai Surya, Managing Director of YSI SEA during the Singapore Sustainability Showcase

Ultimately when you talk about sustainability, it is how do we endear into each and every one of us that we are nothing more than mere custodians and stewards – that we take what we need today to meet the needs of ourselves, our families, our communities and our societies,” said the minister when delivering the opening address.

The 400 registered attendees of the Showcase were given electronic goodie bags. Among others, the goodie bags featured the ASEAN MY World Survey, which made it convenient for the attendees to take the Survey both during and after the Showcase. 

Since its inception in 2017, YSI SEA has received widespread support from organizations such as the Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, Temasek Foundation Ecosperity, World Vision Singapore and National Youth Council of Singapore. YSI Global has the network of 14,000 entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide united with the common goal of reaching the UN SDGs. By bringing together the energy of the youth around the world and by connecting them to private, national and global stakeholders, YSI Global and YSI SEA could create an ecosystem to solve some of the most crucial issues of the 21st century.

Nigerians Hack4Good: Next Generation MY World 2030 global solutions

Nigeria is set once again to take the MY World survey to the next level 

 

Abuja, Nigeria February 5-7, 2018

Between 2013-15 Nigerians collected 2.7 million votes in the MY World 2015 Survey setting a global standard for public engagement. The collected responses allowed the Government of Nigeria hear the concerns of citizens and place them at the heart of decision-making process about the 2030 Agenda. This March MY World 2030 is set to launch once again across the country aiming to mobilize millions of citizens to have their say on the country’s development priorities.

In a previous survey conducted, millions of paper ballots were shipped across Nigeria and hundreds of people then helped transcribe responses to the database. Despite the tremendous results achieved, the process required money, time and human resources which could be better spent. To do things better this time, we challenged Nigerian talents and developers to harness technology to build a next generation MY World 2030 global solution.

On February 5-7 2018, the SDG Action Campaign and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs partnered with Civic Innovation Lab to host a hackathon. Our challenge for the participants was to have developed a prototype to support response collection and data management of the MY World 2030 survey. Developers came from across Nigeria to the 3-day event in Abuja, where participants learned about the SDGs and 10 teams pitched their solutions to judges.

“I am really passionate about the UN from a very young age and I have always wanted to work with them. Being here in this social space which creates such a collaborative environment is such a blessing. I can’t wait to see what we come up with and to work hard for solutions that can be used around the world to be inclusive. For women, for children, for disabled. Even across language barriers”  Ikuromor Ogiriki, Hackathon participant

 

 

Three winning solutions were selected for a second round. The teams were given the task to continue to build and develop their prototypes to compete for a final prize of N100,000,000 (one million naira). After, the winning solution will be deployed in the national roll out across Nigeria and thereafter globally.

Congratulations to the three teams who were the selected winners of the first round!

Get to know our winning teams and their solutions below.

Team A

  • Perewari Pere – Team Leader and Lead Prototyper
  • Richard Igbiriki – Lead Developer
  • Ikuromor Ogiriki – Lead Designer
  • Adaka Iguniwei – Software Developer

Team A developed a prototype of an app that would enable the direct upload of survey responses into the app allowing the surveyor to work both online and offline. When online, responses are immediately sent to the database after a session is completed. When offline, responses are automatically saved in the device and can easily be uploaded to the online database with one click once connected to internet.

For paper ballots the team developed a prototype of a tool for scanning and a text recognition using Google CloudVision. The tool would enable that texts are automatically extracted and categorized under each survey question and then uploaded to the online database.

Team B

  • Chidi Stephen, Lead Developer
  • Vivian Egeruo, Developer
  • Daniel Nduka, Designer  

Team B developed a prototype of an application which would collect user response from questionnaires using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data). The application works by collecting user response from questionnaires using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data). USSD is a Global System for Mobile(GSM) communication technology that is used to send text between a mobile phone and an application program in the network. Example *556# to check balance on a service provider Network. When the USSD is created on a service provider platform, users will be able to interact with contents (questionnaires) uploaded by the admin on such platforms by entering the specified USSD and interacting with the response. The responses collated is then sent to a central storage area

TEAM C

  • Olabosinde Oladipo (Software Engineer)
  • Akinniranye James (Software Engineer)

Team C created three separate solutions to address issues identified in the current process. The suggested solutions were: 1. Scanning backlog of paper surveys with an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) System to eliminate the manual data entry. 2. Use online means like a progressive web app and Twitter Polls to reach out to more demographics. 3. Develop a mobile app that could be used by surveyor and the public to both collect responses and send results to the central database. The app would work offline while leveraging the coverage and reliability of SMS to push time-critical data to the central database from remote places.

About

Hack4Good is a civic and youth participation program of the Civic Innovation lab that encourages the youth to develop innovative solutions to pressing problems in our society.

The Judges

Mr Muyiwa Ibrahim – Data Scientist. • Mr Adepegba  Oduntan – Oracle Strategic Initiative Specialist • Mr Bolaji – Technology Advisor, Civic Innovation Lab • Laura Hildebrandt – UN SDG Action Campaign • Gayan Peiris – UN SDG Action Campaign

Paragon Partnerships’ member PepsiCo carries out first MY World scientific survey in the Philippines

 70% of Filipinos feel the situation on the Sustainable Development Goals of most concern to them – poverty, hunger and good health & wellbeing – has not improved in the last twelve months.

More has to be done if we want to achieve the Goals by 2030, and the Philippines is a good example of it. PepsiCo, Paragon Partnerships and the UN SDG Action Campaign conducted a representative survey among 10,000 Filipinos to look at their awareness of the SDGs and their perception on how the situation on the most important issues for them and their families has developed in the past year.

The survey revealed that awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals signed by 193 World leaders at the UN in 2015 was very low among people in the Philippines, at just 5.9% of the total numbers interviewed. And more importantly, the lower the socio economic demographic, the awareness decreased further.

Anand Kantaria of the UN SDG Action Campaign said “This latest data demonstrates that more has to be done in communicating the SDGs to the most marginalised communities, ensuring that no one is left behind. Multistakeholder partnerships such as this one with PepsiCo and Paragon help us gather critical timely data on progress and feed people’s’ perceptions into decision making at all levels”.

Pamela Forbus, PepsiCo SVP Global Insights & Analytics, said “We are proud to partner with Paragon Partnerships and the UN SDG Action Campaign in the effort to collect data and insight to improve people’s lives. This important work is aligned with PepsiCo’s strategic vision, Performance with Purpose, which began over a decade ago and is rooted in the fundamental belief that business success is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world we share.”

The survey also indicated that SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG2 – Zero Hunger and and SDG3 – Good Health & Well Being are the primary concerns to Filipinos. When asked about how the situation has evolved for these specific Goals, the vast majority (68.2%) felt that the goals of most concerns to them had not changed in the past 12 months, while just over a quarter (28%) thought they had improved over the same period, and only a small percentage 3.8% of the interviewed Filipinos felt the Goals that they were most concerned about had got worse, with the lowest socio economic classes being the least optimistic about any positive changes.

The survey was conducted as part of PepsiCo’s Demand Science project in the Philippines. PepsiCo included three MY World 2030 questions in partnership with the United Nations SDG Action Campaign for this Paragon Partnerships project.

Dilek Ozler of Paragon said “PepsiCo is an active contributing member of the Paragon Partnerships, committed to using data and insight to improve people’s lives.  As Paragon, we are proud to be providing a platform where market researchers around the world and countries/ governments come together to measure the impact of the actions towards sustainable development.  Without measurement, it would not be possible to see real progress and keep ourselves responsible.  Our hope is that more country governments take the opportunity to work with Paragon, not only to measure the progress of SDGs in their countries, but also to use market research to help feed their policies to implement SDGs.  Knowledge and citizen insights are key for the implementation of SDGs.”

Dig deeper into the results of the survey here.

To explore other results and how people think about progress on the SDGs click here.

SDGs & Climate Action interlinked at the heart of COP23

Every step taken for Climate Action is a step further in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement provide a clear framework for action towards a better world for every person and for the planet.

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) will be a busy and exciting two weeks in the efforts to support UNFCCC and member states to raise public awareness about the interconnectedness of the SDGs and Climate Action and to bring in citizen voices to deliver the message of the importance of multiple stakeholders working together to achieve change.

Here’s the lineup of all the immersive experiences, events, exhibitions, and conversations ready for COP23. Interesting in attending any of these sessions? Register here 

REGISTER FOR EVENTS HERE

SPECIAL EVENTS

Friday 17th November
Change-making through New media and Virtual Reality
where: Bonn Zone, at the Talanoa Space
when:  1.00 – 2.00pm

NOTE: This event is ONLY open to COP23-accredited participants. If you don’t have COP23 accreditation already, you cannot get accredited at the entrance and you will be turned away. For those who are not eligible to attend, we invite you to watch the livestream of the event on our Twitter account via Periscope at http://twitter.com/sdgaction 

Join the UN SDG Action Campaign and Scenic VR for an interactive panel on the virtual reality film “Guardians of the Forest”, as well as the role of virtual reality in supporting indigeneous priorities in crafting a new climate reality.

Speakers:

  • Kristin Gutekunst – Executive Producer, UN Virtual Reality and New Media, UN SDG Action Campaign
  • Brittany Neff & Benjamin Ross – Co-directors, Guardians of the Forest – CoReality
  • Carol Gonzalez Aguilar – Coordinator of Women and Family – Organización de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonía Colombiana (OPAIC)

Wednesday 8th November:
Innovative leadership: Engaging everyone in driving local action for SDGs & Climate Change
where: Talanoa Space at the Bonn Zone
time: 11.30am to 12.30pm 

How can local and sub-national efforts to adapt and build resilience to climate change thrive? What examples can we see of new leaders taking innovative actions to engage everyone: governments, citizens, innovators, businesses, and organisations, in setting priorities and developing solutions to the SDGs & climate change? How can these local solutions be scaled to make more tangible change?

The purpose of this session is to share inspiring examples and insights of how multiple stakeholders across subnational governments, private sector, and civil society organisations are taking innovative approaches, exploring collaboration and engaging millions of people to make tangible change at the local and global level.

@SDGAction #ACT4SDGs

Wednesday 15 November:
High-Level Event “Innovation for SDGs and Climate Action”
where: Climate Planet, between the Bonn and Bula Zones.  Find it here
time: 1.30 to 2.30pm

Through an innovative and interactive format, this event will showcase selected transformative solutions tackling the biggest challenges for humanity and the planet. These innovative solutions will be presented by governments, private sector and civil society in a dynamic pitch session followed by targeted networking, Participants will wander freely to explore the solutions being presented, thereby enabling the speakers and participants to share insights, ideas and lessons learnt.

Moderator: Laura Hildebrandt, Policy Specialist, UN SDG Action Campaign

Welcome Remarks

  • Mr. Magdy Martínez-Solimán, Assistant Secretary General and Director Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UN Development Programme

Opening Remarks

  • Dr. Ingolf Dietrich, Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
  • Dr. Ifeolu Falegan, Senior Advisor, Office of the Senior Special Assistant on SDGs to the President of Nigeria

Screening of innovation video, UN SDG Action Campaign

Multistakeholder pitch session

  • Luca Bucken, Liter of Light
  • Isabel Naguib, Foodsharing Bonn
  • David Katz, The Plastic Bank
  • Carlos Eduardo Sturm, Brazilian Forest Service plus various other speakers
  • Sarah Teeter, TerraCycle
  • Nick Davis, GridMarket
  • Jane Madgwick, Wetlands International
  • Valeria Valotto, Progetto Quid

*No accreditation needed

EXHIBITIONS

6 – 17 November

SDG Virtual Reality Space
where: Bonn Zone, at UNFCCC/Momentum for Change stand

Curated by the UN SDG Action Campaign, this exhibition includes a multitude of immersive experiences and a participatory activation through the MY World 2030 survey. The United Nations VR series supports the UN system in communicating and advocating for the advancement of the SDGs and Climate Action. Bringing people’s voices to COP23, participants can have a peek into how the SDGs and Climate Change manifest in peoples daily lives and across the globe and discover and share citizen perceptions on progress through MY World 2030.

 

SDG Interactive Space at the Climate Planet
where: Climate Planet between the Bonn and Bula Zones 

The Climate Planet is a 20m globe, brought to Bonn by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Inside the large globe is a 4m globe, onto which a specifically produced movie about climate change will be projected – including live views of the earth taken by NASA. Around the Planet, we will showcase the SDGs in innovative and interactive ways, human stories behind the SDGs, citizen perception data and the MyWorld 2030 survey. See teaser and more information 

*No accreditation needed

Humans of MY World Exhibition
where: Bonn Zone, in the hallway on the way to meeting rooms 1-4

Millions of individuals have raised their voices on what matter most to them and how we are making progress on the SDGs through MY World, the United Nations survey for a better world. Each of them has a story to tell. This exhibition features content from the photo-narrative series Humans of MY World, shedding light on the human stories behind the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through this exhibition, you will have the chance to “meet” 17 individuals from around the world and learn why the SDGs are important to them. Take a look at the photo series 

Sharing People’s commitment to SDGs and Climate Action at the #SDGStudio

The #SDGStudio is a mobile interactive space open to innovators, influencers, governments, businesses, activists and organisations to generate dialogue and share change-making actions and commitments from across the world to serve as an inspiration for everyone to engage in taking action for the Sustainable Development Goals.

During COP23 we will be at the Bonn Zone and the Bula Zone, asking leaders to share their commitments and efforts for Climate Action and the Sustainable Development Goals with the world. Come and speak up!

Will you not be there? You can be part of the #SDGStudio from wherever you are. Speak up, tag @SDGAction and #SDGStudio and be part of the conversation.

All stories are shared on the SDG Studio Youtube Channel and distributed through the SDG Action platforms – website and social media channels – as well as through our media partners and UN communications channels.

We will share live all sessions and behind the scenes unique content  through our social media platforms. Follow @SDGAction in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss anything.

For a map of the different locations click here.

SDGs and Climate Action interlinked at COP23

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 

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. Read the whole post and watch the videos

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

 

Citizen Scorecard: Two years on, how have people’s lives changed on key SDG targets.

  • 20% of people surveyed struggle to have enough food to eat

  • 8 key findings that can help us understand perceived progress on the SDGs two years after their adoption

  • One in three respondents are aware of the Sustainable Development Goals.

  • explore data

  • SEE PRESENTATION

This and other key findings are part of the results of several pilot studies collecting perceptions on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to assist decision-makers in SDG review activities. The results, collected through a collaborative research project between the UN SDG Action Campaign and Paragon Partnerships, in particular Kantar Public and Lightspeed, as part of the MY World 2030 project, were presented today during the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations. The Forum is the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals held from Monday, 10 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2017.

The UN SDG Action Campaign & Kantar Public have developed and tested a question library of almost 100 SDG Questions and then conducted a research study in 11 voluntary reporting countries for this year. The results are representative and weighted samples across the following countries provide a baseline against which to measure progress in future years.

  • Argentina
  • Belgium
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Malaysia
  • The Netherlands
  • Portugal
  • Sweden
  • Thailand

Key Findings

  1. One third of people are aware of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

    Overall. One in three respondents are aware of the Sustainable Development Goals. Younger respondents (ages 16-29) were more familiar with the SDGs than older respondents. There are huge differences among countries. Respondents in Thailand (the least developed country in the sample) were the most aware, while respondents in Denmark (the most developed country) were least aware. Japan and Argentina were the countries with least awareness levels, with over 80% of the population not aware of the SDGs. There is a lot to be done!

  2. SDG 1 / 20% of the population is still struggling to afford basic needs. 

    This percentages goes up to 35% for those who haven’t completed primary education.

    Thinking about you and your household, which of the following best describes your financial situation?
  3. SDG 2 / The struggle for food is very similar in countries with the highest and lowest Development Index and it affects about 20% of the population who are struggling to have enough food to eat. 

    When asked about how easy or difficult has it been for respondents and their household to have enough food to eat, 20% of all respondents across the sample, without distinction between Low and High Developed Countries (according to the Human Development Index) found it very or quite difficult to have enough food to eat in the past twelve months. Some differences are shown, with Argentina, a country with a Very High HDI level, reporting the most difficulty ( 37% stated “Quite Difficult.”) and Denmark with the least difficulty (55% answering “Very Easy”).

    Question: Thinking about the last 12 months, how easy or difficult has it been for you and your household to have enough food to eat?
  4. SDG 3 / Access to healthcare has not changed since last year. 1 in 4 respondents are not satisfied with the quality.

    For the majority of respondents the situation hasn’t changed. But one in four respondents are not satisfied with the quality of healthcare. Thailand scored as the country where it has most improved.

    Question: How satisfied are you with the health services and treatments you and your household have had over the last 12 months?
  5. SDG 5 / More people agree than disagree that women earn the same amount of money for doing the same job.

    Overall, more respondents agree than disagree that women earn the same amount of money for doing the same job. Regional differences are shown, as the majority of European respondents disagree with this statement, while the majority of S.E Asian respondents agree.

    Question: “Today, in our society, women and men earn the equal amount of money for doing exactly the same work at the same level”. Do you agree with this statement?
  6. SDG 9 / Access to internet is still an issue.

    One in five respondents reported they were “often” or “always” having problems with internet access. Malaysian respondents reported the most difficulty accessing the internet with 11% answering “always” versus the Netherlands as the country with the least difficulty, with 61% answering “never” or “rarely”. The age difference also played a role, with the majority of respondents aged 60+ reporting more difficulty than younger ones.

  7. SDG 14 / The oceans and seas are not clean enough, and half the population agrees. 

    Argentina and Italy scored high (73% in Argentina and 69% in Italy) in the perception that their rivers and lakes are not very clean or not clean at all. In Italy and the Czech Republic, conditions have gotten worse according to around 30% of the people surveyed, whereas in Malaysia and Portugal, conditions were reported to have improved. Sweden and Denmark were the exception, with above 70% of the respondents reporting that their rivers and lakes were very clean or fairly clean.

    Question: In your opinion, how clean are the rivers and lakes around where you live ?
  8. Good Health, Eradication of Poverty and Decent Work are the primary concerns for citizens.

Overall, the top 5 SDGs where: 

It is interesting to note that in MY World 2015, with a much bigger sample size, the top issues of concern were Education, Healthcare, Jobs, Honest & Responsive Government. People are still choosing the same top issues two years on! After good health, the top concerns change for women and men – for women being “No poverty” and men being more concerned with “Decent Work and Economic Growth”. Quality Education also made it as a top concern in Argentina.

Methodological Note

In total, 7,772 respondents took part in the survey in 11 countries, ranging from 350 in Denmark to 1,011 in Czech Republic. Quotas were set by age, gender and region in each country. Respondents were sampled from Lightspeed and TNS online and mobile access panels. Data is weighted by age, gender, and region in each country. Cross-country comparison is based on additional weights by country population size

In other words: assuming probability sample, for a question response of 49%, we can say that in 95 out of 100 surveys, the true value (which would be obtained if the entire population were asked the question) lies between 46% and 52%.

Become a MY World 2030 partner and roll out the survey

A Year of SDG Action: MY World Mexico

Written by Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo
National Operations Coordinator at MY World México

Three years ago when we had the opportunity to implement the United Nations Global Survey For A Better World MY World 2015 in my hometown Jalisco, México we were able to realize people’s interest in being part of the new global development agenda. Back then, I was amazed by people’s willingness to act and help others participate in the definition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the end of the day, having collected nearly 400,000 voices in the survey thanks to the mobilization of 500 young volunteers and 255 organizations, Jalisco was able to position itself as one of the most participative entities in the world in the definition of these new Global Goals.

This also led to make Jalisco’s the first in our country to align its State Development Plan to the SDGs taking into account the MY World 2015 results. Jalisco was also part of the adoption of the SDGs and was also awarded the “People’s Voices Challenge Award” for Best Multi-stakeholder Collaboration in September 2015. The results also had a considerable impact in Mexico’s First National Voluntary Review before the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in 2016, as a significant input for SDG actions coming from civil society’s mobilization mechanisms.

However, as soon as the SDGs were adopted in September 2015, the big questions for an already highly motivated team made mostly of young people, were “so what comes next?” and “how do we make sure that the SDGs are a reality by 2030?”. Thankfully for us this was also a question raised by the United Nations SDG Action Campaign which had recently transform itself from the United Nations Millennium Campaign and was exploring the different ways in which MY World could be used as a platform to track awareness and implementation on SDGs and monitor progress according to peoples’ satisfaction until 2030.

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(c) MY World 2030 México – UN SDG Action Campaign. School kids hold the SDGs they feel most passionate about.

This is how a group of organizations and highly motivated people supported by the United Nations SDG Action Campaign and United Nations Volunteers in Mexico, decided to establish a national network called MY World Mexico in April 2016. This network, would not only implement the MY World 2030 survey throughout Mexico, replicating Jalisco’s successful strategy, but would also lead actions at the local, national and international levels for the implementation, monitoring, financing, follow-up and socialization of the SDGs in Mexico.

In its first year, MY World Mexico was able to collect close to 30,000 MY World 2030 votes in at least 25 states around Mexico thanks to the efforts of 75 volunteers and 20 Civil Society Organizations. By July 2016, during the first HLPF that would review countries the team was able to provide the United Nations SDG Action Campaign and Mexico’s Office of the Presidency, the first results of the survey. At the same time at the United Nations Headquarters MY World 2030 was officially launched and members of our team were able to present some of the outcomes of this first implementation phase.

Simultaneously at the grassroots level, our volunteers were activating hundreds of other activities that were able to get others engage in the SDGs. The first challenge that the MY World 2030 results showed was that people did not know about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Around 83% of the people who were surveyed, said they never heard about the SDGs before. The second challenge was that the results of MY World 2030 were quite different from what the MY World 2015 had shown in the past. For example, Water and Sanitation (SDG 6) were among the top priorities, as well as Health and Well-being (SDG 3), which led to identify that people indeed perceive implementation of the SDGs as quite a challenging effort.

Ever since, the network has grown significantly. As of today, MY World México is composed by nearly 60 organizations from academia, civil society, the public and private sectors, as well as 130 volunteers in almost all states in Mexico. The actions and strategies MY World Mexico focuses on are:

  1. Promote and socialize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with the support of key stakeholders at the local, national and international levels.
  2. Strengthen and expand the participation and commitment of people in the implementation, monitoring, financing, follow-up and socialization of the SDGs in Mexico.
  3. Lead actions in favor of the SDGs through volunteerism and multi-stakeholder mobilization at the local, national and international levels to achieve all goals and targets proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  4. Empower citizens to they promote actions and activities to tell everyone about the SDGs.
  5. Lead national communication campaigns with key stakeholders of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  6. Promote the creation of local and inclusive networks for individuals and institutions in favor of the implementation, monitoring, financing, follow-up and socialization of the SDGs.
  7. Co-create and promote accountability mechanisms at the local and national levels by people through ground mobilization and the search of multiple sources, as well as publicly acknowledge efforts and best practices.
  8. Use technology, innovation and creativity to maximize the impact of people’s participation, as well as knowing SDGs progress in the country for information sharing and appropriate use of data.
  9. Lead advocacy actions at the international, national and local levels.
  10. Promote the annual participation of people in the MY World 2030 Survey.

The network has also participated in key advocacy processes in the United Nations, such as:

  • 2016 United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
  • 2016 71º United Nations General Assembly.
  • 2017 United Nations Economic and Social Council Youth Forum.
  • 2017 United Nations 55º Commission for Social Development.
  • 2017 1º Global Festival of Ideas for Sustainable Development.
  • 2017 Youth Forum of the United Nations 61º Commission on the Status of Women.
  • 2017 United Nations 50º Commission on Population and Development.
  • 2017 United Nations First Regional Meeting on Sustainable Development of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

The network is leading actions across the country on a daily basis to achieve the SDGs. We have also taken into account other projects such as Humans of MY World; Virtual Reality; Hackatons; hundreds of conferences and other mechanisms that allow us to tell everyone about the SDGs and incentive action.

The network has been one of the first partners to sign a National Voluntary Commitment before the President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 2017 Ocean Conference leading 25 coastal cleaning activities; 50,000 MY World 2030 surveys and 87 educational activities to achieve SDG 14 on Life Below Water.

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(c) MY World 2030 México – UN SDG Action Campaign. Coastal cleaning activity volunteer holds SDG14

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c) MY World 2030 México – UN SDG Action Campaign. School kids participate in educational activities around SDG14

We have partnered with initiatives such as TeachSDGs, The Global Goals and The World’s Largest Lesson to use existing creative platforms to engage many others in the process. The network grows by numbers every week and is trying to ensure State and Municipal Committees on SDGs are implemented and that the recently established National Council on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development mandated by the Office of the Presidency includes the participation of all social actors involve in the SDGs. The MY World Mexico’s team took part in the installation of this Council, which is hoped to shape federal policies in the SDGs for the years to come.

A year of great achievements for our time has not only motivated others to participate in the SDGs but has built a solid, diverse and talented team across the country. As one of the first pilot countries of the second phase of MY World 2030 we have been able to secure a place for the SDGs in many people’s hearts and minds, as well as in key efforts in organizations from across sectors. We are certain that MY World Mexico will continue to grow and expand itself to make the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a reality in our country.

Being able to lead this amazing project has taught me great life lessons, among them realizing how interested young people are in shaping their future. Interest has led to amazing daily actions, which is why I see MY World Mexico as more than a team but a community that has been able to build a strong spirit of commitment to make our country better. We are in contact every day, through every possible mean, making sure we connect our ideas and our work wherever we go. Part of the success of our strategy depends on respect to diversity and willingness to work despite challenges.

We are forever grateful with each and everyone of the individuals, organizations, authorities and United Nations entities that have participated in this one-year journey as MY World Mexico. We could not have done this without out you. We hope to continue to work together for another year of great efforts!

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c) MY World 2030 México – UN SDG Action Campaign. MY World volunteers

To know more about MY World 2030 : myworld2030.org

The SDG Action Campaign recently issued a Global Call for Partners to take part in supporting the MYWorld 2030 survey on Wed 31 May 2017 at 10am EST: Join the MY World 2030 Partner Team