On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  (Links to an external site.)of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Links to an external site.) — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit  (Links to an external site.)— officially came into force.  Over the next fifteen years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

The SDGs, also known as Global Goals, build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Links to an external site.) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.

While the SDGs are not legally binding, governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals.  Countries have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review of the progress made in implementing the Goals, which will require quality, accessible and timely data collection. Regional follow-up and review will be based on national-level analyses and contribute to follow-up and review at the global level.

-United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals 2018

Here you will visit the site http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ (Links to an external site.) (also found in Module 1) and choose a sustainable development goal (SDG) of your choice (you will use this SAME SDG for all Blog entries, each Blog will feature a different country within the United Nations! For your first post, you will introduce the SDG you will cover throughout the semester AND cover your first country. After the first Blog, you will not need to introduce your SDG and will cover a new country each entry. Each entry, the student will provide background information from a country within the UN on how it is addressing the goal they chose by answering the questions presented in the Blog Layout.