17 Goals to Achieve a Better World: New Campaign Highlights UNU’s Work on the Sustainable Development Goals
On 22 January, the United Nations University launched its Sustainable Development Explorer, a new campaign highlighting UNU’s work to support each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, the SDGs unite global action to overcome the world’s biggest challenges, from hunger and poverty to equality and peace. UNU’s work is uniquely comprehensive, spanning the full breadth of the SDGs. Some 400 UNU researchers worldwide are engaged in more than 180 research projects, generating knowledge to develop realistic solutions to achieve the SDGs.
Consider UNU’s work on water, for example. Water is a core component of many of the SDGs, including those focused on food, health, sanitation, energy, industry, responsible consumption, and biodiversity. It is estimated that by 2025, half the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas, and climate change is likely to trigger more extreme droughts and floods, thereby intensifying human displacement and conflicts. Mitigating these trends requires solutions that can reach affected populations now, including the 2.1 billion people who even today lack access to safe drinking water.
UNU’s water-related research informs policymaking to promote global progress on such topics as water governance, freshwater resources, wastewater management, water-related risk reduction, urban development, and migration.
And that’s just UNU’s research on water. UNU experts are passionate about applying their ideas, generating knowledge, and developing realistic solutions to help achieve all 17 goals.
Available in English and in Japanese, UNU’s Sustainable Development Explorer currently features 51 projects, 34 experts, 34 publications, and 50 expert articles, organised by SDG. It offers visitors the opportunity to explore the “who” and “what” of UNU’s work, meet UNU’s experts, and learn about how their ideas are generating knowledge to develop solutions to achieve the SDGs.
Access UNU’s Sustainable Development Explorer at unu.edu/explore