At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September, the U.N. officially launched the new global Sustainable Development Goals. These 17 goals and 169 associated targets are the result of 193 countries standing together and making a plan for a healthier, more prosperous world.
The plan lays out some very lofty goals — they cover health, education, the environment, economic growth and more. Some say it’s impossible to achieve them all.
And yes, the magnitude of what we as a global community are proposing is daunting. We’ll need to make structural changes in governance, financing, and implementation. We’ll need the fields of global development, research, and finance to embrace a new way of looking at the world — of thinking about environmental threats and disease prevention together, for example, instead of as unrelated issues. And we’ll need new funding schemes to accommodate this more integrated approach.
About the author
Pape Amadou Gaye
Pape Amadou Gaye is president and CEO of IntraHealth International. For over three decades, he has advocated for, built, and leveraged strong partnerships with governments, NGOs, and the private sector to catalyze change and enable health workers to better serve communities in need. A native of Senegal, Gaye is a powerful advocate for family planning—especially in West Africa—as a high-impact solution to address health and population challenges.
