Accelerating the SDG’s: Our Everyday Actions

Reflections from my +SocialGood Fellowship, a UNF Initiative

In September 2019, I had the honor of joining 12 other incredible humans to commence our United Nations +PlusSocialGood Fellowship. Over these past two years, I’ve been inspired by my global community members in their dedication to local change and global processes in their respective communities. Our community was tackling bridging the workforce gap, human trafficking, tackling mental health, promoting peace and justice, climate change (to name a few) — all centered around different SDGs.

What has this experience provided me with?

Through my work with the +SocialGood Community & United Nations Foundation team, I had the opportunity to use my voice to champion gender equality and education-related issues on a number of platforms. I had the humbling experience to be invited to speak at the United Nations Foundation events, interview senior UN leadership, share my voice on the Social Good Summit Lagos panel (and other platforms). I’ve had the privilege to collaborate on digital campaigns that touched all corners of the world, (Eg: Climate Action Campaign). In addition, to celebrate the UN’s 75th Anniversary, I hosted a UN75 Global Dialogue with participants representing over 20 countries, in which our insights transcended into reports to highlight the youth perspective. Most importantly, I spend the past 12 months elevating the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector and how it affected women across the globe.

There’s so much that I’ve taken away from this incredible experience, but these are the three biggest insights:

1. Every Action Matters & Every Individual Matters: Our challenges are global, complex, and interconnected. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming to see how our everyday actions matter, and if we can make a difference. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my community is that: EVERY ACTION MATTERS. The SDGs can only act as a blueprint for society, but in order to achieve the goals by 2030, change starts with us and our voices.
2. Young People at the Center of It All: As stated by UN Secretary-General, “Young people today will have to live with the consequences of our action and inaction. For too long, the voices of youth have been sidelined in discussions about their future. This has to change now through meaningful engagement with youth.” The crises that youth are inheriting include the growing inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflicts, terrorism, insecurity, climate change, and pandemics. Despite this bleak scenario, I’m optimistic for the future. Connected to each other like never before, young people want to and already contribute to the resilience of their communities, proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress, and inspiring political change. I’m meeting young people (as young as 13) who are starting the conversations in their communities and act as a domino effect to influence others.
3. Technology as a Catalyst for Change: The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated global inequalities, and it’s changed the dynamics of how we mobilize and implement solutions. Through open innovation, crowdsourcing platforms, and youth-based challenges, technology has catapulted innovative solutions and enabled everyday citizens to implement new initiatives and systems — which can be replicated across borders. These platforms are also growing in popularity to bring the youth perspective and create new partnerships between the public and private sectors (expanding the ecosystem for impact).

What’s Next? This Fellowship might be over, but there is still so much work to be done to achieve the SDGs. I’ll be sharing my continued journey to champion SDG 4 & 5 in the coming months. Stay tuned for more!