Developed by the United Nations (UN), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of goals, targets, and indicators that UN member states will be expected to use to frame their social policy agendas and political policies over the next 15 years. Established in 2015, they are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
The SDGs continue the success of the Millennium Development Goals, but are far more comprehensive because they include such aspects as climate change, economic equality, innovation, and peace and justice. In short, they are a comprehensive agenda that countries can use to take bold and transformational steps to improve our world and make sure it is sustainable for our future. While some support for programs to achieve these goals will come from the United Nations Development Programme, there is not worldwide consensus on how these goals and their targets will be funded.
The list of the 17 SDGs (see below) begins with End Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere, because ending poverty is the greatest global challenge and a critical component of sustainable development. Other SDGs include aspects of gender equality and empowering women and girls, promoting well-being for all ages, and taking action to combat climate change and its impact.
While I can see the work of the IHP in almost all of these SDGs, I want to recognize our work in the area of climate change with our new Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice and Health. The mission of this interprofessional Center, anchored in the School of Nursing, is to lead nurses and other health professionals in responding to the impact of climate change, climate justice, and health through education, research, and advocacy.
One of the targets of the SDG climate change goal is to improve education and raise awareness and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning. The Center’s faculty, through their scholarly work, are fully addressing this target by publishing important and impactful papers, disseminating their scholarship at meetings and in formal conference presentations, and planning to host a national conference on climate change, climate justice and health at the IHP in April. Their advocacy in our local communities is changing the way Charlestown is looking at issues of climate change. This scholarship is an exemplar of how we, as IHP scholars, can impact health and change the world.
While the Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice and Health is one example of how our faculty are addressing the SDGs, there are multiple other ways we are impacting the world and its future. Our international experiences are designed to be both a health professional educational experience and a cultural immersion opportunity. Our faculty and students enter countries with the objective to learn local health care methods and make an impact on the community through their work. Professor Rawan AlHeresh in her work in a refugee camp in Jordan and Professor Elissa Ladd in her work training health care professionals in India in interprofessional care are just two examples. And, one does not have to go around the world to see our impact. The work that all of our programs are doing at the Harvard-Kent Elementary School is enriching the lives of the children and the families in that community. Clearly, the IHP touches people’s lives in a way that improves their quality of life.
I encourage you to take a look at the SDGs and the targets to see where you can fit into the plan for long-term peace and posterity in the world. Several jump out to me, including reducing food insecurity, reducing violence against women, and improving literacy rates, but all are equally important. Because the IHP’s mission is to prepare health professionals and scientists to advance care for a diverse society through leadership in education, clinical practice, research, and community engagement, it looks like we are in a perfect position to contribute significantly to the new Sustainable Development Goals.
The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 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
Goal 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
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development