Summary
Highlights
The video introduces the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 by 193 UN member states, aiming to transform the world by 2030. These goals are universal, integrated, and transformative, focusing on urgent social, economic, and environmental challenges. Partnership is crucial for their success, involving governments, UN development partners, civil society, faith-based organizations, youth groups, communities, and the private sector.
Susan, a woman from Papua New Guinea, struggles to feed her family as sea level rise affects her crops due to increased salt in the soil, leading to food insecurity and stunting for her daughters. She also notes fewer fish due to rising sea temperatures. Lack of reliable transport infrastructure means limited access to health facilities, high rates of malaria, and home births. Poor sanitation leads to common diarrheal diseases. Susan, with only an eighth-grade education, faces a lack of nearby secondary schools and clean water sources, as the encroaching sea threatens their freshwater supply. Her family's primary dream is simply survival.
Benny Pundi, a subsistence farmer with two wives and six children in Anga Province, faces health problems due to the distant hospital. Farmers in his area rely on unpredictable rain patterns for their crops, leading to unstable food production and stunted children. Children walk long distances to school and often don't attend beyond early primary. The family works in the fields and consumes everything they grow due to a lack of close markets, resulting in no outside income. They live without electricity or running water, relying on a basic pit latrine and firewood from the forest. Benny dreams of a better life for his children.
Dorothy Robert, a 39-year-old mother of six in Port Moresby's 5 Mile settlement, runs a small food stand. As the sole earner, her family often lacks cash, leading to children skipping meals and experiencing stunting. Lack of funds for school supplies means some children don't attend school. Sanitation is poor, with shared pit toilets and frequently cut-off water. Dorothy also faces the severe issue of gender-based violence, a high prevalence in Papua New Guinea. Despite feeling trapped by poverty, her dream is for her children to be educated and self-sufficient.
The stories of Susan, Benny, and Dorothy illustrate how the lives of real people in Papua New Guinea are directly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. The video emphasizes that SDGs are about improving every individual's life, and the betterment of a nation starts with the betterment of one person and one family. The 15-year timeline for the SDGs signifies that every single day is important for bringing about change, as change cannot happen without human action.