As we reach three years since the unanimous and ambitious adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by world leaders on September 25th 2015, IACD’s call that there can be no sustainable development without community development rings truer than ever. It’s a call which could be well repeated next Tuesday by any of us individually or with others, using the various means now available to us everywhere
To recap, in September 2015 world leaders pledged to do three things – to end extreme poverty, fight inequalities and injustice, and fix climate change. The seventeen goals for sustainable development they agreed came into effect with the purpose of positively impacting all people, in all countries of the world, on January 1st 2016.
IACD, as well as IACD members acting through various organisations, and community development practitioners globally have engaged with the goals from before the outset, seeking to influence their final shape and associated implementation mechanisms, and working since then to generate awareness participation and real outcomes for organising and educating the marginalised and minority communities which are community development’s priority throughout the world.
Most recently a very successful event took place in June the World Community Development Conference co-hosted by IACD with Irish partners in Maynooth had sustainable development as a key theme in addition to an opening address by Mary Robinson whose work on climate justice is known widely.
On Tuesday next September 25th next a Global day of Action on the SGDs takes place across the world led by the UN SDG Action Campaign in association with the Global Campaign against Poverty. At UN headquarters in New York throughout that week, including on 25th, a number of events are scheduled as part of Global Goals Week during the opening of the 73rd UN General Assembly.
The Global Campaign against Poverty Europe have put together a useful toolkit for the Day of Action and a manifesto for the associated Campaign. Though focused on Europe and therefore devised through that lens for European associated issues it has some good information and ideas possible for use by people everywhere to help raise awareness and articulate the issues essential for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
For further information see http://act4sdgs.org
The European Toolkit and associated manifesto are attached
Manifesto for a Sustainable Europe for its Citizens
Faces of Inequality 25.9.2018 Toolkit
Anastasia Crickley
IACD Vice President
Chair of the IACD International and National Relations Committee
