Tag: sweden

By UNDP in Sweden

UNDP in Sweden launched a Swedish version of Humans of MY World in July 2017 – a photo series about people whose stories and actions contribute to the implementation of the Global Goals. The purpose of the exhibition is to raise awareness of the goals, and highlight how individuals work to achieve the goals in Sweden, thus inspiring others to act and engage.

The stories in the Swedish version of the exhibit were collected by UNDP partly through direct requests to individuals whose work can be linked to one of the Global goals, but also through a shout-out in social media. Several impressive stories were received, and it is heartwarming to see how many people spend their time and energy to contribute to the achievement of the goals.

The exhibition was first displayed during the political week in Sweden, Almedalen, and was seen by approximately 8.000 people. In connection to the exhibition the visitors had the opportunity to participate in the MY World survey. MY World is the UN survey that asks citizens if they are aware of the Global Goals, which six of the 17 goals are of immediate concern to them and if the situation has gotten better, stayed the same or gotten worse over the past 12 months. Together the exhibition and the survey gives the visitors an opportunity to raise their voice and get inspired to take action for the goals.

The exhibition was also displayed at The Stockholm Act in August – a festival that focuses on activating and connecting research, politics, industry and especially arts and culture together to accelerate the transition to more sustainable development.

The exhibition will go on a tour to festivals, cultural events, conferences and other happenings in Sweden throughout the year. The photo series Humans of MY World is an important tool to show how we all play a role in the implementation of the goals and in the work for a sustainable future. We are ALL needed if we are to succeed, including YOU!

UNDP Sweden has an established partnership with Sida and with the Swedish Postcode Foundation that further expands the office’s communications work. The projects focus on raising awareness and engagement for the Global Goals in Sweden. Currently a digital campaign about the Global Goals is being planned, and a short film will be developed and distributed aimed at inspiring youth to get involved in the 2030 Agenda. In the beginning of 2018, UNDP Sweden will organize a gala for leaders from different sectors in Sweden, in order to build further momentum for the implementation of the goals. Stay tuned!

Humans of MY World in Sweden

Click the photo to visit the photo page on the Humans of MY World Facebook page.

Click the arrows on the sides to navigate the series.

Goal 1 - No Poverty

“Fighting poverty is one of the most important challenges of our time. Equal resource allocation, equal welfare and social protection for all is a prerequisite for a sustainable and democratic society. Goal 1 - No Poverty, is about giving all people the same opportunities to a good life with food, education, healthcare and a safe home. Poverty is also a problem here in Sweden due to increasing inequalities between people. We are all responsible. It is about solidarity - and all of us must be prepared to lower our living standards to improve the situation for the poor and vulnerable.” Behrang Miri

Goal 2 - Zero Hunger

“More than 800 million people will go to bed hungry tonight. 800 million. The number is staggering. And the reality? I have traveled a lot in the 24 countries in which We Effect is present. I have met Ganimete Hasani (in the picture) in Kosovo, who has been given support to start a strawberry cultivation and thus has a much better life today. I have listened to Petronida Migambide about how she and her family in Tanzania can have dinner every day since she has learned new farming methods. Poverty decreases. It gets better! And now, we and the other countries of the world have promised that hunger will be eliminated in 13 years. 13 is also a challenging number. But we will make it!” Anneli Rogeman

Goal 3 - Good Health & Well-being

Generation Pep, GEN-PEP, is an organization that works to raise awareness and encourage commitment to the health of children and adolescents. The Crown Princess of Sweden and Prince Daniel have initiated Generation Pep that, together with other actors from all parts of society, runs long-term public health initiatives focusing on children and youth. - “The ambition with Generation PEP is to encourage commitment and create change for children’s health. We are glad to have many strong partners from start, and our hope is for more to join”, Prince Daniel. The goal is to engage the whole community to help children and young people to live a healthy life. Several of Sweden’s leading organizations, foundations and companies supports the initiative, all of whom are determined to create change and contribute to good health and well-being.

Goal 4 - Quality Education

“To me it is important that schools lay the foundation for people’s environmental consciousness early on. As a teacher, I do this by teaching sustainable development and allowing students to work in a creative, exploratory and fun way. They may use different methods to solve issues that affect them and their environment. Collaborations with various local actors give students the opportunity to actively influence society. Integrating sustainability in education is crucial for our future!” Vildana Basic

Goal 5 - Gender Equality

“Sri Lanka is a paradise in many ways, but people and especially women still live in poverty. Therefore, I started a project that engages groups of women in the production of new, modern and useful products from recycled materials. Each woman is responsible for her own production and thus her own income. They are being advised on product development and we help find dealers and markets with potential customers interested in sustainable fashion. Prices are calculated so that every woman will receive a salary that they can live on. At the same time, they are trained in circular economics and sustainable production, which helps both the environment and the society in which they live.” Sophie Gudmann Knutsson

Goal 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation

“Today, more people have cell phones than access to toilets. Inadequate sanitation causes diseases and death. Water is life! Poor sanitation costs billions of dollars each year. Yet every dollar invested can bring substantial returns by keeping people healthy and productive. Between 1990 and 2010, almost 2 billion people gained access to sanitation. Still, great achievements must be made to reach Goal 6 – Clean water and sanitation. As Ambassador of WaterAid, I feel we all have an obligation to act. Doing nothing about this fateful issue is not an option.” Jan Eliasson (Former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations)

Goal 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

“Through working with wind power, I have experienced the amazing force of energy without fuel costs. I wanted to make access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all, a reality. Together with colleagues in Brazil I am working on a change that we believe will be even faster and bigger: distributed solar energy. Through rental agreements we provide a solution for those seeking clean energy at a low cost. We see a future where every home will be run by energy from a natural and eternal force. We think the company name has a good fit: Endless Energy.” Pontus Löfstrand

Goal 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth

“Sweden has a long history of failing to harness the influx of human capital it receives through immigration. With the refugee wave of 2015, I decided I wanted to help by founding Sync Accelerator, a multi-cultural IT recruitment bureau that focusses on immigrant tech talent. The hope is to create a win-win situation for both newcomers and Sweden. By coaching, connecting and promoting immigrant tech talent and successfully placing them in well-paying jobs, we are proudly contributing to many global goals, notably to Goal 8 - Decent work and economic growth.” Johan Engström

Goal 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

“After co-founding Klarna, a fast growing fintech company I’ve had first hand experience what entrepreneurship and technology can achieve. I asked myself if it would be possible to combine these two factors to create a better world? With Norrsken Foundation we’re trying to do just that; creating an eco-system for social impact, entrepreneurship and tech to work together to solve some of the societal and environmental challenges of our time.” Niklas Adalberth

Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities

“What started as a football tournament for integration between newly arrived and established youth, has now become a nationwide movement for diversity. Tillsammans Cup is the Swedish National Day’s music and football festival - for diversity. We are a non-profit association with the goal to fill every field in Sweden with football-playing Swedes, newly arrived and established, to celebrate the National Day as it should be celebrated, together, with openness and with cheer. On our matches and National Day festivals, everyone can participate, regardless of language, background, gender, football experience or the number of years or months you’ve lived in Sweden. This year, Tillsammans Cup is playing in 13 cities around Sweden, with over 3000 players and 700 volunteers participating. A grassroots movement has been born!” Erik Englund & Marica Määttää

Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

“My interest in human rights and urban sustainability arose during a trip to Fiji five years ago, where I saw the effects of a typhoon on the local community. There and then, I decided to make a difference, specifically in relation to Goal 11 - Sustainable cities and communities. As more and more people move to cities, focusing on sustainability and resilience is getting increasingly important. In order to achieve the Global Goals, there must first be general knowledge about them in our society. Thus, I now engage as a Global Goals Advocate for UNDP in Sweden, assigned to give presentations and raise awareness about the goals.” Johanna Karlsson

Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

“I feel bad every time I throw away an item that has expired without my knowledge. But expiry date management becomes a tedious task when I have to manually input the item name and expiry date every time I buy something new. So I’ve always wanted to make an expiry-date management and notification application that is simple and easy to use, which gave rise to the project ‘Freshness’. I want to make expiry date management a pleasant experience so that we can reduce waste and save resources together!” Xujia Zhou

Goal 13 - Climate Action

“From an early age I was taught that life is sacred and priceless. But at the age of four I also learned that the meat we bought at the supermarket for 59:90 SEK was made from butchered animals. How could something deemed priceless be so cheap? Growing older I learned about the concept of ‘externalities’, and I came to realize that the world would be a better place if, instead of just knowing the price, everyone would know the socio-ecological costs of their purchases. This is why I co-founded Normative.io, a software to assess organisations’ sustainability by analysing their bookkeeping records using artificial intelligence. By monitoring and managing our resources better we contribute to saving our planet and take climate action.” Kristian Rönn

Goal 14 - Life below water

“When in India and East Africa, I saw the effects of coastal management on local communities. From beautiful beaches attracting tourists by the dozen, to coasts attracting waste by the tonnes. Marine recources play an essential role in people’s social and economic livelihoods. As a former geography student, I understood that water challenges weren’t purely the result of infrastructural flaws, rather, a consequence of how we treat our oceans and ecosystems as a whole. Therefore, I’m studying a master’s in global studies to enable me to make a difference from an academic standpoint. I hope that all of us, as individuals, can give Goal 14 the attention it deserves.” Mohammed Ali Virani

Goal 15 - Life on land

“Healthy ecosystems are the basis for everything. Humans and society depend on functioning ecosystems to get clean water and clean air, food, raw materials and for our mental well-being. Throughout my life, the overall perspective has been my guiding principle. I believe that understanding how everything is connected - that our prosperity depends entirely on protecting the ecosystems - is crucial for us to meet the challenges of the future. Therefore, my involvement in the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is given. By getting more people, young and old, to explore the nature, and by influencing the politics, the ecosystems in forests, land and waters get healthier!” Johanna Sandahl

Goal 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

“Since childhood I’ve been driven by trying to find solutions to challenges. Working at the UN was a dream. Although my first professional years as a management consultant felt far from the UN, I had an underlying readiness to rise to the occasion if needed. Then came 2015. Sweden became the destination of people fleeing from their homes. This was the opportunity to rise. When talking to newcomers, we found that the fundamental need was human connection. Since we worked in tech we saw the potential to connect people faster, and on a large scale. So, we set out on a journey to create a digital tool for human connection - Welcome App. Today, we’re still in the quest of creating inclusive societies around the world.” Emma Rosman

Goal 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

“Through the Stockholm Coordination Initiative, we enable people from all parts of society - ranging from culture, entrepreneurs, civil society and politicians - to share experiences and knowledge in the stride for a fair and sustainable world. Our coordination of these actors culminates in The Stockholm Act, an interdisciplinary festival open to the public. The festival aims to mobilize engagement, build new partnerships and a broad participation for the Global Goals as well as raise awareness of our common future on the planet, where Goal 17 – Partnership for the goals - is one of the very pillars.” Julia Björne & Jonas Fläckerud

About UNDP in Sweden

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in nearly 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, reduce inequalities, and build peaceful and sustainable societies. We help countries to develop policies, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. UNDP Sweden works to strengthen policies and frameworks for sustainable development, and support efforts to communicate and achieve the Global Goals.

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Twitter: @UNDP_Sweden