The title of my blog looks and sounds nice and very encouraging, but at the same time frustrating if you analyze the data of our world: 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty, more than 1.2 billion don’t have access to electricity, where multinationals are often the most powerful actors that don’t respect the natural environment or help the communities where they operate, especially to eradicate extreme poverty. The increasing complexity of our systems that relay in technology to increase the well-being of the general world, and now facing climate change with unprecedented changes that can affect and harm the most in need.
Before coming to United States in my country Bolivia, I was always hearing news from New York about the Sustainable Development Goals and how they were going to impact the world, but I had the impression that consisted almost solely of top diplomats meeting in back rooms while the press and the public stood behind security barriers. Now, after attending the Social Good Summit, my view of this totally changed, I got fascinated with these people who are doing their part to make a difference, It’s about turning U.N. week inside out, many of these spectators are young adults who could be described as somewhat wide-eyed about their own ability to effect change.
The hashtag for the event, #2030Now (a reference to new sustainability goals), saw a combined total of more than 1.6 billion impressions on Twitter and Instagram and was the top trending topic in the country during the conference.
I would like to share some of them that impacted me the most:
“I am not asking about money, I am asking if they care” @PaulPolizzotto
“We are not going to achieve any of the goals if women and young girls don’t have power” @sarahcalamarino
“Women are the key actors that bring emotional impact to fight against climate” @ecan_intl
“We need to make it our personal agenda to change the world” @G_MachelTrust
“The SDGs are more important than Kim Kardashian’s bottom. Let’s make them more important.” – Richard Curtis
If you want to know more about the global goals, listen this great webinar from Jeffrey Sachs (Nobel Price Economist and Special advisor for the Global Goals): //bit.ly/1KOmSYa or better you can check it out his book: “The age of Sustainable Development” that I am enjoying a lot to read.
“Everyday is an opportunity to accomplish the SDG’s before 2030” @wilson_saavedra