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The SDGs are a huge global agenda, a highly aspirational vision for what we could do together as a species in the face of massive global challenges including climate change, collapsing ecosystems and rising inequality and global insecurity.

In the words of Ban Ki Moon – “This is the first generation that can end poverty and the last that can save the planet.” And for the first time in history we have a shared global vision for how we want to meet these challenges and save our planet. We have come to agreement and as Ban Ki Moon has said “There is no plan B. And there is also no planet B.” 
OneLove is committed to making a difference with the following goals:

#1 - NO POVERTY
#5 - GENDER EQUALITY

THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
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​The Key Points
The UN Sustainable Development Goals represent a shared human vision of how we want to live on the planet, the challenges we want to overcome, and goals we want to achieve in order to live together sustainably.
The SDGs are historic, the first time that every single United Nations country has signed onto a shared vision for achieving global sustainable and which applies to everyone everywhere.
 
Historical Overview
The “Development” idea kicked off after World War 2 when the victorious countries decided that peace was cheaper than war and launched a project of global economic development aimed at “increasing the productive capacity of the poor”. The 1970s saw rising critiques of economic development. On the one hand people were pointing to the environmental impacts of economic growth with the Brundtland Report highlighting that there were “limits to growth” and calling for “sustainable development”.
 
At the same time, social critics pointed to the fact that rapid economic growth hadn’t always been accompanied by decreasing poverty and called for “human development” that put poverty alleviation first and prioritized improvements in health, education, basic needs and human rights.
 
At the turn of the century, continuing poverty led to the launch of the Millennium Development Goals which promoted human development as well as action on climate change by focusing on 8 key goals including halving extreme poverty, increasing access to education and clean water and reducing maternal and infant mortality.
Much progress was made towards the MDGs and just under half were achieved in the 15 year time frame. The success of the Millennium Development Goals led to a global effort to design new Sustainable Development Goals to replace them. These new Sustainable Development Goals were launched in September 2015.
 
The SDGs
Seventeen Goals and 169 sub-targets that define the key sustainability challenges that the world wants to focus on and what we want to achieve in order to realise a sustainable and flourishing world.
Developed through over 3 years of negotiations involving every single United Nations member and the active participation of civil society. While the MDGs were created by 10 guys in a room the SDGs are a truly global and collaborative creation.
The 17 SDGs cover the economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainable development as well as including goals that focus on peace and justice and the partnerships needed to achieve the goals.

What Makes the SDGs Unique?

Aspirational – The SDGs are a transformational agenda that call for radical change and set high goals for all of humanity. Goal 1 is “End poverty in all its forms for everyone everywhere”.  And this is to be done in 15 years. Incredibly aspirational and echoed in the words of Ban Ki Moon – “This is the first generation that can end poverty and the last that can save the planet.” If we come together to set goals for the entire human race can we settle for anything less? Can we call these goals unrealistic and unaffordable when military and arms spending could easily pay for their achievement?

Integrated and Indivisible – The SDGs integrate the economic, environmental, social and peace and justice aspects of sustainable development. “The SDGs are not a menu they’re a set”. You cannot pick and choose between them. Fully achieving any one Goal will require achieving all of the others.

Universal – The SDGs apply to everyone everywhere. Rich countries as well as poor countries. There is no longer a developed and a developing world – “We are all developing countries now”. Each country has to work to achieve the SDGs in its contexts in relation to its unique strengths and weaknesses. The SDGs apply to Canada and our domestic sustainable development issues.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."   Margaret Mead