The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are worldwide commitments to create positive global change by the year 2030.

The SDGs set an agenda targeted to be attained by 2030:

The five areas are complex and interconnected and organized around "5Ps" because it serves the planet, the people, prosperity, peace and partnerships.

The SDGs also known as Global Goals recognise that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with plans to build economic growth and take action on a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, job opportunities, climate change and environmental protection.

The Global Goals came into force on 1 January 2016. They are not binding for countries but they are unique because they call for action by all 193 countries which are members of the United Nations, regardless of whether they are poor or rich.


What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals?

There are 17 goals:

  1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
  2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
  3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
  4. Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.
  5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
  6. Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.
  7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
  8. Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
  9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
  10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
  11. Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
  12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
  13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
  14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.
  15. Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
  16. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.
  17. Revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

World leaders agreed to these 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are an expansive framework for improving the quality of life on this planet within a generation. The aim is to build a better world by 2030 and hence referred to as the 2030 Agenda.

The SDGs are a bold commitment covering everything from reducing hunger and poverty to providing quality education and ensuring access to clean water.

The 17 objectives, broken down into 169 more specific targets, form the core and describe the ideal horizon for 2030 of sustainable development assuming as much social justice as economic growth, peace and solidarity as the preservation of ecosystems.

Rotary’s Areas of Focus and the SDGs.

Rotary has similar goals, to attain a better, safer, and more peaceful world. Rotary is dedicated to seven areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support its peace efforts. They are

  • Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention
  • Disease Prevention and Treatment
  • Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Basic Education and Literacy
  • Community Economic Development
  • Supporting the Environment

A comparison of these areas of focus with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shows that Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus address many of the same issues. Rotary frequently partners with other organisations as a way of maximizing resources, increasing a project's impact, and ensuring its sustainability and longevity.

Peace Building and Conflict Prevention aligns with SDGs 16 and 17:

For example, in partnership with eight universities in eight countries, Rotary Peace Centres educate about 100 Rotary Peace Fellows each year, preparing them to act as leaders and catalysts for peace building and conflict prevention.

Disease Prevention and Treatment aligns with SDGs 3 and 17:

For example, Rotary is a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), along with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since the GPEI was launched in 1988, the number of polio cases has dropped by 99.9 percent, and approximately 16 million people are walking today who would otherwise have been paralyzed.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene aligns with SDG 6:

Many Rotary clubs are carrying out projects to provide clean water, upgrade toilet facilities, and offer hygiene education.

Maternal and Child Health aligns with SDG 3:

Many Rotary projects help improve health by providing or rebuilding essential medical equipment for maternity hospitals, and by supporting family planning and training.

Basic Education and Literacy aligns with SDGs 4, 5, 8, 10 and 17:

Rotary members improve the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. Club projects often support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.

Community Economic Development aligns with SDGs 1, 2, 8 & 17:

Rotary clubs carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also help local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.

Environment aligns with SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15:

Many Rotary projects impact on Sustaining and Protecting the Environment.

A central pillar of both the SDGs and Rotary's own humanitarian objectives is the recognition of the critical importance of developing mutually beneficial partnerships between governments, civil society organisations and the business community. The best example of a partnership that has made a lasting positive impact on communities around the world has been the Rotary led effort to eradicate polio.

Rotary will have greater success in leveraging its work by aligning closely with the United Nations Global Goals.

The correlation of the colours to the Sustainable Development Goals.