01/31/2024

How Association Initiatives Can Help Advance the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals

Here’s a look at how associations can impact SDGs

On any day, one may turn on the news and feel a sense of hopelessness. Wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan have led to catastrophic humanitarian crises. Girls and women are disproportionately impacted by violence, poverty and conflict. Frequent extreme weather events have caused dangerous impacts on the environment and people around the world.

The impact from such crises demands a global response. In 2015, after the most comprehensive negotiations in United Nations (U.N.) history, 193 Member States adopted the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

However, in July 2023, the U.N. released The Sustainable Development Goals: Special Report 2023, which found that 12 percent of the SDG targets are on track, while progress on 50 percent is weak and insufficient. This is due to several factors including impacts from the pandemic, the climate crisis, and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The report found that the number of people living in extreme poverty is higher than four years ago. Hunger increased back to 2005 levels, and gender equality is some 300 years away.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.