The sustainable development goals and their impact
Why were the sustainable development goals (SDGs) created?
The SDGs, or Global Goals, were built on the success of the millennium development goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. They are a collection of 17 interlinked goals designed as the blueprint for addressing global challenges (poverty, low-quality education, inequality, etc.) and are a call for action by all countries to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
Why are the goals more important now than ever?
We only have nine years left to achieve them – and we have a lot to do in that time. Also, they have become increasingly relevant to all nations in this COVID era, so there is a need to hasten their implementation to build a fairer, healthier, and safer environment for all.
“Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.’’
BAN KI- MOON
Which goals are Foundation First targeting?
Foundation First is targeting four of them: Goal 1 (No Poverty); Goal 4 (Quality Education); Goal 5 (Gender Equality); and Goal 17 (Partnerships For The Goals).
Foundation First is targeting four of them: Goal 1 (No Poverty); Goal 4 (Quality Education); Goal 5 (Gender Equality); and Goal 17 (Partnerships For The Goals).
GOAL 1: NO POVERTY
The first goal aims to end all forms of poverty and to promote sustainable growth and development among women, men and children. This goal focuses not just on people living in poverty, but also on countries’ social policies and interventions aimed at achieving the goal.
Foundation First is deliberately targeting Goal 1 to reduce poverty in communities, societies and the country as a whole. This is because an educated workforce supports the development of the economy, makes citizens more informed and active in the democratic process, and creates a new generation of teachers, doctors, and leaders. As Nelson Mandela said, the greatest weapon to reduce poverty is quality education.
GOAL 4: QUALITY EDUCATION
Education is key to sustainable development and Goal 4 aims to provide children and young people with quality and easily accessible learning opportunities. One of its targets is to achieve universal literacy and numeracy, which are major components in acquiring knowledge and skills in the learning environment.
Foundation First’s training approach is helping to attain this target by, for example, improving young children’s literacy skills through promoting meaningful story sharing sessions, classroom reading centres, talk walls, provision of print-rich environments, and other language development initiatives. This has helped to elevate children out of learning poverty and has so far improved the literacy skills of approximately 19,800 learners across Ghana.
Similarly, our creative mathematical activities, such as number talk and our learning centres that are set up for counting, classifying and measuring activities, have helped children to become critical thinkers and problem solvers.
Foundation First is helping to achieve and sustain Goal 4 by providing teachers with support and development that complements the government of Ghana’s efforts. We target teachers because having qualified teachers is key to achieving Goal 4. Qualified teachers create effective teaching and learning environments which lead to positive learning outcomes.
Specifically, Foundation First teacher support and development initiatives transform and empower teachers and provide them with the knowledge and skills that enable them to lay a strong and better foundation to prepare children for the future. Foundation First also engages with communities to create awareness of the importance of early childhood education and to encourage them to provide children with support and access to activities that enable them to master key developmental tasks.
‘’Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.’’
KOFI ANNAN
GOAL 5: GENDER EQUALITY
Goal 5 aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women in the public and private spheres and to undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources and access to ownership of property. Generally in Ghana preschool teachers, who are mostly women, are not highly regarded and are accorded low status and recognition in society, leading to them feeling inferior and having low self-esteem.
Foundation First’s training approach is reducing/eliminating such discrimination as it professionalizes the women-led preschool sector by raising the status and confidence of preschool educators. The growing expertise of these educators influences society positively and leads to the promotion of girl child education. Our classroom resources and activities create a positive, interactive and stimulating environment that is friendly to both girls and boys and motivates girls to explore the learning environment. We also use female role models to encourage the preschool girl child to remain in school and to aspire to become like one of these role models.
Would you like to learn more about our approach to addressing gender inequality in the classroom? This will be outlined in Blog No.3.
’Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone’s responsibility.’’
BAN KI – MOON
GOAL 17: PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS
Goal 17 refers to the need for cross-sector and cross-country collaboration in pursuit of all the goals by the year 2030. Goal 17 aims to strengthen the means of implementation of the SDGs and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. Partnerships for Foundation First are the core/backbone of what we do. We believe that the other goals we are working towards can be achieved and sustained through partnerships. We collaborate and partner with organizations such as Edify and JICA. To find out about our partnership work with these organizations, kindly click here.
’The best partnerships aren’t dependent on a mere common goal but on a shared path of equality, desire, and no small amount of passion.’’
SARAH MACLEAN
How can these SDGs be achieved?
We need to have an action plan to develop and scale up awareness of the SDGs that will target local government (chiefs, queen mothers, local assembly members), religious leaders, parents, teachers, students, and industry players – and, perhaps most crucially, the media – about the relevance of these SDGs. Only by working together to mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources, can we successfully achieve and sustain these goals, particularly in Ghana, by the end of 2030.
