This week, whilst leaders worldwide gather in New York City for the UN General Assembly the UN is launching Global Goals Week to be an annual week of ‘action, awareness and accountability’ of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

These goals were agreed in September 2015 by 93 countries who aim to achieve them by 2030. There are broad goals such as the goals “to end a hunger” to more specific targets such as “all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births”.

However difficult it might seem to achieve these targets, they are set to save lives and ensure that people have a good quality of life, without fear of suffering, persecution or inequality. With 15 years to achieve the goals, governments, organisations and local people need to work together in order to reach these targets – the countdown has already started.

For Global Goals week, we will be zooming in on our partner networks to bring you interviews, photos, explanations and inspiring stories of how the work of Viva and our partner networks is contributing to the achievement of the SDGs.

In particular, we will be focusing on:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being particularly ‘Let your Light Shine’, our work with children and families struggling with HIV/Aids.

Goal 4: Quality Education giving an overview of education projects in Uganda.

Goal 5: Gender Equality featuring our projects in India that are challenging gender norms and encouraging girls to achieve their dreams.

Goal 17: Partnership for the goals which is exactly the model that Viva works by. Viva’s experience suggests that a group of churches and community organisations, locally focused and united in purpose, can be hugely successful in bringing lasting change for children.

The Global Goals are set for international achievement through collaborations of international organisations, governments, NGOs and businesses.

What are we doing at Viva?

As a small organisation, we are working more locally to achieve results at a city level.

In contrast then to the Global Goals being defined internationally and filtering down to the local level, we are working from the ground up, generating change in the lives of children and their families, and using the models to inform policies which will have a positive impact on more people.

Collective action in a defined area towards a defined goal can generate demonstrable results which catch the attention of decision-makers and influencers to catalyse the kind of societal change needed to bring solutions to otherwise intractable issues facing vulnerable children.

You can find all the articles from our blog series by following this link.

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You can also follow Global Goals Week with #GlobalGoals and @GlobalGoalsUN.