By Dr. R. Seetharaman for Gulf Times

The concept of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universally applicable goals that balances the three dimensions of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic. The 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development came into force from beginning of this year after adoption of the same at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.

The SDGs have been built on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new goals call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognise 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. Some of the SDG goals which invoke significant interest to me encompass areas such as poverty, food security, energy, economy, climate and sustainable cities.

Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.