SOCIAL WORK AND THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

SOCIAL WORK AND THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established in 2015. With the 17 goals, the main areas for progress were identified to achieve transformational change in our world. As with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SDGs have proven difficult to implement and gain traction. Poverty, and all the other interrelated SDGs have made little progress. The situation has worsened and some member states have struggled even more during the current COVID 19 pandemic.

The concern from the Social Work profession is that the agenda of the SDGs may get overridden in the aftermath of the pandemic, and the predicted global economic turmoil, that will significantly impact global governance in the next 5-10 years. Unfortunately, we have to expect a devastating negative impact on people and communities with whom we work together, and the gap between the very rich and the majority already living in poverty will widen and deepen the existing inequality gap in societies, locally as well as globally. Additionally, the unfair paradox is that those who often suffer the most from global failures, mal-development and negative effects are the ones who usually contribute the least to these societal and ecological ills, and this is known as environmental injustice. This is de-stabilising for individuals and their communities. Such global challenges underline the need for global transformation.

Published in 2021 by UN Commission Policy Paper