In 2015, world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly agreed to 17 goals for a better world. Known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the aim is to meet these objectives by the year 2030 in a bid to end poverty, achieve gender equality, ensure access to quality education,...
Almost five years ago, all member states of the United Nations signed the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development. This agenda includes 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) on global challenges such as poverty, urbanization and climate action, all featuring targets and indicators to measure...
The World Bank Group’s Mahmoud Mohieldin believes innovative financing and partnerships are needed to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Countries that have invested in human capital, infrastructure and decent systems of social protection have made more progress than others in...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Zurab Pololikashvili, the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization. To travel is a universal human right. There are references to this in national constitutions and international covenants, such as Article 13 of the Universal...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Ahmad Alhendawi, the secretary-general of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and former UN youth envoy. With 1.8 billion people between the ages of 10 and 24, youth around the world face their fair share of challenges. Whether...
To deny admission to underprivileged Indian children on “technical grounds” is against the spirit of the Right to Education Act. In India, Jagdish Gandhi, the founder and manager of City Montessori School in Lucknow, recently published full-page advertisements in local editions of all...
Each successive generation of education policymakers has tried to imprint their particular notion of India on the youth by shoving information down their throats and not letting them think. This year, the big education policy event in India is the making of the National Education Policy 2016...
The US is falling short of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In September 2015, the United States and 192 other nations adopted the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). These 17 goals and 169 targets set a development agenda for all countries, including the US,...
The #WhatIReallyReallyWant hashtag has been designed to make enough noise to reach the world leaders at the UN this September. It has been 20 years since the Spice Girls put Girl Power on the pop culture map. Catchy and lighthearted it may have been, but Wannabe became an anthem for young women...
A 19-year-old woman uses scrap metal for innovation. In Sierra Leone, just over 50% of the population has access to safe drinking water. It is a rare and expensive commodity. Nineteen-year-old Khadija is an innovator. Watch her create solutions to help her community make access to water...
Over-reliance on technological innovation means insufficient consideration given to how societies can change and function on limited natural resources. The total global population is increasing and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, with an estimated 70% living in towns and cities. These...
In this guest edition of The Interview, Vivian Zhong talks to Renee Robins, the executive director of J-WAFS. From contaminated drinking water in India to urban food deserts in the United States, the challenges to providing clean water and food for the people of this world are numerous and...
The migrant crisis will impede our ability to deliver Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Post-2015, officials of the United Nations (UN) and other stakeholders started to think carefully about what development meant in this new era. Breaking down perceptions beyond extreme poverty or...
In developing countries, women and girls spend an estimated 40 billion hours a year collecting water. Since humans established permanent settlements and systems of agriculture, efforts to develop water supplies and waste management for the successful maintenance and growth of societies have been...
Eliminating extreme poverty may seem like a challenge, but Goal 4 of the SDGs provides an achievable vision for the future. In the era preceding the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), securing a seat in the classroom itself was a daunting task. During the 15-year timeframe mandated by the...
