Back in May, six innovative public figures joined the battle to push the world towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Each of the new official SDG Advocates committed themselves to pursue the 17 goals on behalf of “peace, prosperity, people, planet, and partnerships.”
As we inch closer to the SDG Summit in September, UN News caught up with some of them.
Marta Vieira da Silva: ‘Gender equality’ makes development sustainable
Brazilian footballer “Marta” not only plays for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League and the Brazil national team as a forward but with 17 goals – the same number as the SDGs! – she is the top scorer ever at FIFA World Cup tournaments – that’s both for the men and women’s championships.
This UN Women Goodwill Ambassador said she is “fully committed” to lend her voice and life experience “to ensure that women and girls around the world have the same opportunities that men and boys have to fulfill their potential”.
“Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are the direct objectives of Goal 5, but they also play a key role in the achievement of many other goals, as well as supporting the overall success of the SDGs”, said the 33-year-old champion.
“There really can be no development that is sustainable without gender equality”, she stressed.
Ms. da Silva became an SDG Advocate because she wanted to help inspire many more girls and women, boys and men, to think of gender equality as a catalyst to create opportunities.
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim: Climate change is ‘the mother of all battles’
Environment and Indigenous Rights activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, expressed to UN News her passion for all 17 SDGs “as a package”.
She elaborated that indigenous peoples don’t see “any difference between economic and social issues and environmental protection”.
The Chadian activist sees her SDG advocate role an as “a bridge between the UN System and those who are left behind”, saying that she wants to be “the voice” of those who are silenced, the most vulnerable and of Indigenous Peoples solutions.
Edward Ndopu: Disability and possibility ‘belong in the same sentence’
Twenty-nine-year-old Eddie Ndopu is used to beating the odds. Aged two, the African human rights and disability advocate was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, with a life expectancy of five years.
The new SDG Advocate aims to inspire greater ambition by reaching one of his “most ambitious goals to date”, which is to deliver a televised address to the UN from outer space.
“In so doing”, he asserted that he would be “the first physically disabled person to travel into space”.
“I want to address the UN from space to show young people who represent a cross-section of society that with a larger than life personality and a bit of human ingenuity, there’s nothing one cannot achieve, including the Global Goals for Sustainable Development”, he hammered home.
Dia Mirza: The environment is ‘essential’
Bollywood actress, Miss Asia Pacific 2000, and UN Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador, Dia Mirza added the title of SDG Advocate, because “the SDG Goals themselves are the real inspiration to everything; for people, peace and the planet”.
“I hope to ensure that my work in advocacy policy implementation and human behavioral changes will lead to securing the health of the environment”, she explained, pointing out the need for clean air, water and soil along with “an effective waste management system that is practiced nationwide”.
Muhammad Sanusi II: Education, decent jobs: Africa’s ‘a silver bullet’
Muhammadu Sanusi II, Emir of Kano, became involved with the SDGs, prior to the 2030 Agenda’s official launch.
His Royal Highness is equally passionate about two SDGs: Quality Education (SDG4) and Decent Jobs and employment (SDG8) – with an emphasis on the role of women.
“If you educate the girl child, you deal with so many issues like domestic violence, gender inequality, maternal and child mortality, high fertility rates etc. and also make progress towards breaking the inter-generational cycle of illiteracy and poverty”, he said. “So, if you are looking for a single silver bullet that will address many of these issues on the African continent, in my mind it will be to focus on providing the girl child an education and the opportunity to earn income and contribute meaningfully to the society”.
Human rights at the fore: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Nadia Murad
The sixth new SDG Advocate, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, Nadia Murad, has been a loud voice for human rights, while also drawing attention to the plight of hundreds of thousands of displaced children.
A human trafficking survivor herself, the 26-year-old Yazadi woman from Iraq was sold into sexual slavery by the ISIL terrorist group.
While unable to speak with UN News, specifically for this story, she told the Security Council that the international community must “shoulder the responsibility” to rescue those still missing and in captivity, since 2014, when the terror group asserted control over large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Original source: UN News
Published on 14 August 2019
