By Ehi Braimah
In
2015, the United Nations General Assembly set an agenda for a more sustainable
future by identifying 17 global goals otherwise known as ‘Sustainable
Development Goals’ (SDGs).
The intention is that by 2030, the universal call to
action declared by the UN would create a better world by tackling the most
pressing problems framed as the following 17 goals: no poverty, zero hunger, good
health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and
sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth,
industry, innovation and infrastructure; reducing inequality, sustainable
cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action,
life below water, life on land; peace, justice, and strong institutions, and
partnerships for goals.
Prior
to the launch of the SDGs four years ago, 189 countries signed the historic
millennium declaration at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. The
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for
the year 2015 with measurable targets and deadlines aimed at improving the
lives of the world’s poorest people. The UN agenda for the SDGs reflect
continuity and consolidation of the MDGs while making the vision more
sustainable by strengthening environmental goals.
These
goals are linked together to deliver impactful results for sustainable
development. Enduring poverty has no boundaries – it stares everyone in the
face around the world -- and changing weather conditions have become a present
and everyday threat to our common humanity; we have a duty to save the planet. In
Nigeria, for example, we have been experiencing extreme temperatures lately and
the heat wave is not just about to abate. We are also living witnesses to the depleting
ozone layer, melting glacier, rising ocean levels, freezing temperatures and
increased flooding around the world.
Access
to basic healthcare is also a huge global challenge due to widespread poverty.
Men and women of goodwill should come together and do more to solve these
problems. As I noted in an earlier Facebook post, African countries are always
lagging behind in such global interventions to combat the world’s problems with
perhaps the exception of Ghana and Kenya – both countries, from available data,
make deliberate efforts to cascade the UN initiatives by taking actions
locally.
Last
year, the Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development held over three
days in Bonn, Germany. It was a UN forum devoid of “fancy suits and long
speeches” that brought together 1,500 participants from over 100 countries to
showcase the latest innovations, tools and approaches that will make
sustainable development a reality, according to a statement on UN’s website. “The
world is facing tremendous challenges, and, for the first time, there is an
innovative plan to solve them,” said Mitchell Toomey, the Global Director of
the UN SDG Action Campaign, at the Sustainable Development Festival. One
of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the ‘SDG Action Awards’
in seven categories to individuals and organisations who are implementing the
17 goals.
One of the winners of the awards in the Innovation Category was
Foluke Michael, a Nigerian and Project Director/CEO of the Creative Youth Community Development Initiative
(CYCDI), a non-profit organisation. Foluke, a lover of creativity and
innovation, is committed to sustainable development in Nigeria and she’s guiding
young persons to lead a positive change into the future.
Foluke has embraced
the UN 17 SDGs in a meaningful way and she is very passionate about how we can
make the world a better place through innovation and high impact initiatives. Foluke’s
organisation has been globally acknowledged as a pipeline for achieving the SDG
goals in Nigeria and other countries.
CYCDI
is implementing the 17 SDG goals to meet UN’s 2030 agenda through active
learning, creative development, innovation and entrepreneurship in children,
youths and women. The goal of CYCDI is to pursue, promote and implement
sustainable projects that will boost community development and economic growth.
In order to reach this goal, CYCDI created the following platforms: the Vision
of the Child (VOTC), Creative Youth Initiative Against Corruption (CYIAC),
InnoCreativa Youth Hub (IC2030) and CDMA Social Enterprise.
Some of the
organisation’s achievements include successful implementation of social,
economic and environmental projects through educational and talent development
in children and youths under Vision of the Child, one of their flagship
pipelines, since 2002. The project -- which is under the supervision of
Professor Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature -- has produced
thousands of young leaders and innovators in primary, secondary and tertiary
institutions in Nigeria.
CYCDI
also created CYIAC Corruption Busters (CCB) – which earned Foluke the award in
Bonn, Germany – to promote SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). It
was launched on December 9, 2017 to mark the United Nations International Day
Against Corruption. CYIAC has received international recognition and awards in
the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Austria.
CYCDI
is presently leading a global campaign to raise drug prevention awareness
amongst youths and vulnerable adults through a school awareness and creative
programme. The project – which is being supported by the European Union (EU) and
the United Nations Office and Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – produced the
sensitisation campaign movie, Trapped. In
November 2018, the project outcome was adopted and printed with funding from
the EU under the framework of “Response to Drugs and Related Organised Crime in
Nigeria” implemented by UNODC. The books are currently being distributed to
various schools in Nigeria and other countries.
“Solution
to one of the global problems”, says Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary General
and South Korean politician, “is a solution to all”. This may have been the
spark that Foluke and her colleagues at CYCDI needed to create the innovative
“Solution 17” model to tackle the 17 global problems through the application of
the 17 SDGs.
The model is based on youth development through education,
creativity and innovation to implement the 17 global problems and creating
solutions towards a healthy, liveable, prosperous and sustainable planet. Since
the world’s problems are inter-related, CYCDI’s “Solution 17” model for problem
solving recognises the power of synergy and it brings together 17 participants,
17 schools, 17 creative ideas/presentations, 17 solutions and 17 innovators to
solve one global problem.
By weaving the 17 SDGs together to solve each problem,
the organisation believes the model will accelerate the achievement of the 17
global goals by 2030.
For
example, Solution 17 for SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) is a new
project being embarked upon by CYCDI. Branded as “InnoCreativa Youth Hub 2030”
or “IC2030 for short, this model will explore the creative and innovative capabilities
of young people through the development of knowledge and attitude that are
relevant to employability and skills for entrepreneurship.
IC2030
targets undergraduates in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, members of the
National Youth Service Corps and young graduates not older than 35 years. By
February 2020, the IC2030 Innovation Lab is expected to produce 17
undergraduates and graduates; 17 SDGs based ideas to solve unemployment; 17
creative presentations for showcase and pitch to industry partners and
sponsors; 17 solutions to Decent Work and Economic Growth and 17 makers, doers,
innovators, creators and entrepreneurs to solve one global problem –
unemployment. Already, India and Switzerland have indicated interest and sought
permission from CYCDI to adopt the award winning “Solution 17” model.
In
furtherance of her commitment to achieving the SDG goals by 2030, Foluke, in
her current role as a United Nations SDGs ambassador, presented her SDG Impact
Report in Bonn, Germany on May 3, 2019 to a global audience. She used the
opportunity to unveil the partnership between CYCDI and CITC Global Consulting,
a strategic management firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, aimed at deepening the
impact of the 17 SDGs implementation in Nigeria and other countries. One of the
goals under this partnership is establishing a Sustainable Development online television
channel to tell the story of a changing world and the innovations being
introduced to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
Braimah is a public relations and marketing
strategist based in Lagos.
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