(Mirror Daily, United States) – After discussing and approving the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals, the U.N. was faced with a serious question: Even though they know what needs to be done, is the U.N. capable of doing it?
The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of targets set for a certain period of time regarding the major global issues, such as hunger, poverty, disease and climate change.
However, the most urgent matter that needs universal attention is the massive influx of refugees fleeing from the Syrian civil war and flooding Europe. The U.N. reported that a new record has been reached in the number of refugees around the world, a record previously held by the era following shortly after World War II.
According to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, applying the proposed changes is as important as setting affordable goals. He added that we owe it to “the vulnerable, the oppressed, the displaced and the forgotten people in our world” to make the promises a reality by meeting all the demands.
Some critics, however, argue that new development goals may have reached higher than they can, especially considering the time of global emergencies we live in. Aid groups are already in over their heads trying to cope with all the refugees seeking asylum and with sending help overseas.
Ertharin Cousin, the executive director of the World Food Program – one of U.N.’s agencies – said that there’s no way that the world’s governments can handle the established seventeen goals. Even so, he added, the global community has a duty to eliminate poverty and bring peace, so dropping out of the race is not a choice.
Keeping their eyes on the big picture is what the WFP is trying to focus on right now – making sure that poor countries around the globe can feed their population. But changes need to be made in some parts of the world, where the WFP wasn’t even needed until recently.
Syria, for example, was a net exporting country before the war started, with outstanding agricultural areas and the highest productivity in the area. But as of recently, more than 4 million people need to be fed every month on Syria’s territory. While the work piles up, activists believe that the turmoil shaking today’s world is yet another reason to put more energy and resources in aid groups around the globe.
As Paul O’Brien said, the vice president of policy and campaigns at Oxfam America, it’s important to set the sustainable development goals, because they seek to create proper conditions for people to live decently in their mother countries instead of having to flee.
Image Source: African Leadership