Daniel Everett |
The United Nations met between the 25th and 27th of September in order to establish sustainable development goals (SDG’s), which will replace the outdated millennium development goals (MDG’s) established in 2000. Ban Ki Moon, the UN secretary general, stated in his address on Friday, ‘the new agenda is a promise by leaders to all people everywhere. It is a universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world.’
The SDGs include incredibly ambitious, noble and visionary targets, including: no poverty; zero hunger; gender equality and action on climate change. Such goals have been set a fifteen year deadline, All 193 signatories have agreed to include the principles of the SDGs into their policies, which is thought to be likely to directly impact the lives of billions.
In addition, the UN met to discuss the effects of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), both their advantages and limitations. The most impressive success has been the decline in extreme poverty, which has fallen from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015. However, excluding Chinese statistics, 36 million people have fallen into further poverty. This shows that whilst the MDG’s have improved the lives of millions, they have failed to prevent the overall increase in poverty throughout the world.
Consequently, the SDG’s have been designed to improve the lives of as many people as possible, with major issues such as equality, and the improvement of vital living needs such as food and clean water. It is expected that each country must monitor its improvements in following the objectives set by the SDG’s.
Overall, it is evident that the sustainable development goals are a noble set of guidelines that should be taken into consideration by governments the world over to truly make the world a better place. Many will argue that such objectives are overly ambitious, and are not truly achievable. However, only with time shall it be seen whether the world can truly come together to improve such global issues, though it is unlikely, it is possible that these ideals have the power to improve the lives of billions.
