Young people, especially those who will become young adults during the 15-year time span covered by the SDGs have the inalienable right to be informed about this turning point in international development. With half of the world under the age of 30, it is crucial that this agenda puts young people at the forefront of change and development. These youngsters from around the world have already contributed to the post-2015 process in an unprecedented way, identifying and shaping the new development priorities – now they want to ensure they are seen as equal partners in their implementation and monitoring.

1. SDGs Explained to Young
People
December 2015
Erika Bruzonic – Financing for Development MOOC

2. In July 2015, UN Member States
reached a final agreement on the
Global Goals.
The aim of this agreement is to commit
efforts towards ensuring that people
around the world live better, without
damaging the planet.
States will work toward achieving them
within the next 15 years, from 2015 to
2030. These Goals, which come after
the Millennium Development Goals
end, are known as the Sustainable
Development Goals.
What are the
Sustainable
Development Goals?

3. How many SDGs
are there and
what are they?
1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2) End hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition, and promote sustainable
agriculture
3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing
for all at all ages
4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all
5) Achieve gender equality and empower all
women and girls
6) Ensure availability and sustainable
management of water and sanitation for all
7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable and modern energy for all
8) Promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and
productive employment, and decent work for
all

4. 9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and
sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation
10) Reduce inequality within and among countries
11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable
12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production
patterns
13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts
14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources for sustainable development
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15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification and halt and reverse land
degradation, and halt biodiversity loss
16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for
sustainable development, provide access to justice for all
and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions
at all levels
17) Strengthen the means of implementation and
revitalise the global partnership for sustainable
development
Goals 9
thru 17…

5. Within the goals are 169 targets,
to put a bit of meat on the bones.
Targets under goal one, for
example, include reducing by at
least half the number of people
living in poverty by 2030, and
eradicating extreme poverty
(people living on less than $1.25
a day).

6. The UN led an Open Working Group,
comprised of Member States’
representatives, which met 13 times
throughout 2013 and 2014. Accompanied
by a team of technical experts on education,
health, climate and other topics, this group
discussed the most pressing issues facing
people around the world and standing in
the way of improving life for all people and
the planet. They wrote a “Declaration” to
introduce the Goals to the world, as well as
some ideas on how the Goals would be put
into practice, and how they would be
monitored over the next 15 years to see if
progress is being achieved.
How were the
Global Goals
Chosen?

7. The majority seem to be, but a
handful of member states feel
that an agenda consisting of 17
goals is too unwieldy to
implement or sell to the public,
and would prefer a narrower
brief. Or so they say.
Some believe the underlying
reason is to get rid of some of the
more uncomfortable goals, such
as those relating to the
environment.
Are governments
happy about the
proposed 17 goals?

8. How will the
goals be
measured?
The indicators are still being thrashed
out by an expert group. Each
indicator is being assessed for its
feasibility, suitability and relevance,
and roughly two for each target are
expected. The indicators are due to
be finalised in March 2016.

9. Ah, Charlie Brown –that’s
the trillion-dollar question!
Public finance and aid
would be central to support
the implementation of the
SDGs. But experts insist that
money generated from the
private sector, through tax
reforms, and through a
crackdown on illicit financial
flows and corruption, is also
vital.
Let me ask the
Key Question:
How will the
goals be funded?

10. The SDGs have been
officially adopted at a UN
summit in New York in
September 2015, and will
become applicable from
January 2016.
The deadline for the SDGS
is 2030.
When will the
new goals come
into force?

11. Every dollar and economic activity
has an impact on sustainable
development – positive or
negative. Businesses and financial
markets are increasingly
connecting economies and
ecologies across borders through
global value chains. They will need
to have a much bigger role, not
just in financing, but also in their
impact on realising social goals,
partnering with governments,
working with civil society, and
contributing ideas.
What role should
the private
sector have?

12. All assessments of the MDGs point to enormous
material progress on average, and a decline in
the share of extreme poor people by more than
half worldwide since the MDGs were adopted in
2000. In fact, this progress is led by Asia, home to
more than half of humanity. However, the MDGs
agenda remains unfinished, as disparities are
evident and serious challenges to people’s
quality of life persist, while new challenges have
emerged. The SDGs fold in the MDGs into a more
comprehensive 2030 Sustainable Development
Agenda, which includes the underlying causes
and a clearer emphasis on the means of
implementation under each goal, as well as
overall.
Are the MDGs
no longer
relevant?

13. Do your part: Be kind to the
Environment!
Thank you
Sources:
The Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Movimiento Mundial por la Infancia de
Latinoamérica y el Caribe
What is Development? Jan Eliasson
From Billions to Trillions: MDB Contributions to Financing for Development