Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015, the United Nations signed up to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets.

The 17 goals and 169 targets set out a universal agenda to achieve sustainable development globally, known as Agenda 2030. They bring together the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. They apply to all countries who are UN Member States.

The goals build on the lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals, which focused specifically on developing countries.

UNESCO is responsible for co-ordinating the international community to achieve the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) which focuses on education. It aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.

Target 4.7 of this SDG guides our work in this field.

Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4 on Education) focuses on the moral purposes of education, asking us all to think about why we are learning. The target also promotes the importance of lifelong learning.

Target 4.7, calls on countries to: “ensure that all learners are provided with the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development”.

It is also a priority for UNESCO internationally, and was one of the strategic areas of UNESCO’s Education Sector programme for the period 2014-2021.

Our work in Global Citizen Education has enabled us to support and promote SDGs and particularly target 4.7 in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This work helps provide people with the knowledge, skills, behaviours, attitudes and values to cooperate with others in resolving the interconnected challenges of the 21st Century. Find out more about our GCED work here.

We support the 2020/21 New Zealand SDG Summit Series through our grant scheme. The SDG Summit Series enables collaboration across sectors to drive meaningful change for the SDGs.

Youth Leader Ashlee Peacock co-presented Zealand’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) report to the UN in 2019. It outlined New Zealand’s progress towards the SDGs and 2030 Agenda.

We supported the Civil Society report to the UN ‘The People’s Report on the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals’, led by Hui E.

We also supported the production of the SDG lesson plans for New Zealand teachers.

Hui E! works with a wide range of agencies and organisations to build awareness of, and engagement with, the SDGs in Aotearoa New Zealand.

United Nations Association of New Zealand – UNA NZ promotes and supports the aims and objectives of the United Nations, including the SDGs.

Human Rights Commission – The New Zealand Human Rights Commission is committed to ensuring that all New Zealanders know what the Global Goals are, and how they can help realise a freer, fairer, safer, and more just Aotearoa New Zealand.