UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainability in Action

Introduction

The United Nation's agenda for sustainable development and sustainability in action is a plan for people, planet and prosperity. The action plan also seeks to enhance the universal peace in more considerable freedom. The world has been struggling to deal with the increasing poverty rate. The UN recognizes poverty as one of the most significant world challenges that inhibit the world's sustainable development. Therefore, the action plan aims at helping the world deal with the problems associated with poverty. This essay examines the UN action plan under the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the ideological inconsistencies reflected on methods the UN seeks to use to implement the plan and analyzes Jessica's scenario in "A Girl is Being Killed."

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The UN Sustainability Goals

The UN, under its 2030 development sustainable goals, has designed strategies to help eliminate some of the most significant challenges that the world experiences today. Some of the two critical goals identified and set to be achieved by the United Nations and its stakeholders by 2030 include the goal to end poverty in all its forms everywhere and the goal to ensure healthy lives and promote well0being for all at all ages. Different strategies have been set to help achieve these goals.

First, the goal to end all forms of poverty is justified because it is a common challenge that inhibits the economic development of different countries. Despite the progressive fight towards eliminating poverty, the larger population across the world still live in absolute poverty. The goal to end poverty aims particularly on the poor who are vulnerable to the economic and political crises (FDFA 2). According to this goal, the UN aims at cutting the poverty rate by at least half by the year 2030 (FDFA 3). It is estimated that over 70% who are still exposed to extreme poverty are women. The goal to end poverty aims to ensure that poor people elevate their socioeconomic statuses and those who have come out of poverty do not go back. To successfully achieve this goal, the UN and its stakeholders will have to see the policies and programs implemented, especially in the developing countries where corruption level is very high. Corruption impedes the achievement of this goal because certain selfish individuals in power would want to accumulate resources meant to help poor people come out of the poverty situation.

Also, the UN under its sustainable development number 3, which aims at ensuring the everyone irrespective of age or gender, has access to proper and quality healthcare services. This goal, like many other goals set in the 17 set of sustainable goal, is justified due to the high number of people who cannot still access better healthcare services across the world. Some of the manageable diseases like malaria are killing people in the developing countries in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. FDFA estimates that since 2000, the n8mber of victims succumbing to malaria have reduced by 60%. However, other diseases such as AIDS and TB still claim more lives because of inadequate healthcare facilities or lack of facilities. Therefore, with this goal, the UN aims at reducing the global maternal mortality ration to less than 70 per 100,000 live births (FDFA 3). It is important that people should have access to good-quality health, but some of the diseases like AIDs that affect the majority of the developing countries are manageable, especially with the right information relayed to the people. Therefore, lack of education in the developing countries will likely impede the achievement of this goal. Sexual and reproductive care in developing countries has not impacted many people despite being there for many years because of low awareness.

Ideological Inconsistencies

Every country has its challenges and strengths that make them unique and distinct from the other. The UN's scale, ambition, and approach for the agendas are not only unprecedented but also contradictory. The UN agenda implementation approach is based on the comprehensive plan to mobilize all the means of implementation, and global partnership concepts (EU 6). These approaches are contradictory because of the differences between the countries.

The UN has designed strategies to help them achieve the set sustainable development goals. However, there are contradictions to the strategy, especially in implementation. For instance, in the application of objective 1, which aims at ending poverty in all its forms, the UN aims at implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems as well as measures that will protect the vulnerable (FDFA 5). This is contrary to what is there today; every country has its policies and design laws that they perceive appropriate for their people. It would be contradictory when the UN claims to establish procedures that can fit every diverse political society.

In goal number 3, the UN aims at reducing the number of maternal death ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births (FDFA 3). This is contradictory following the fact that it is impossible to achieve across the world, especially in the developing countries where resources still lack to the higher capacity. Most of the developing nations, which forms the majority of its members, do not have funds to establish good-quality and adequate health care services that can serve all their people. The fact that the organization is looking at every country as equal regarding socioeconomic capacities is contradictory to what they want to achieve. No country is the same or similar to the other regarding political, social or economic status. Therefore, making a policy that appears to apply to all the countries equally is contradictory.

However, the UN seems to be aware of the challenges posed by its contradictory solutions. One way that it aims at addressing these implementation problems set out in the SDG agenda includes the follow-up and review mechanisms, which are expected to enable the stakeholders to assess the impacts of their actions (EU 7). Even though it is impossible to watch over every country and successfully ensure that they achieve the goals, but UN aims at overseeing the long-term accountability through the high-level political forum on sustainable development (EU 7). The follow-up and review system is expected to be "voluntary, robust, effective, participatory, transparent, and integrated" (UN 8). Through this strategy, the UN seems to be aware of the obstacles and the impediments that each poses to the successful implementation and achievement of the set out sustainable development goals. However, despite this mechanism, the UN will still have to deal with the unique challenges that are only identified with a particular country. For example, the UN may be willing to work with the stakeholders to help eradicate some of the most significant social, political, and economic challenges, but lack willingness and goodwill from the leaders from these countries will make it difficult for the UN to achieve the 17 goals successfully. Therefore, it is important that every stakeholder to have the goodwill to help eradicate the challenges that the world has experienced for many centuries.

Analysis of the Life of Jessica

From the life of Jessica, it is clear that women have not achieved independence and equality. Despite feminism movement emerging almost four centuries ago, gender inequality is still at large in play in different societies. Jessica has attained an age where she should be left to make her decisions, but her father, Simon seems to be concerned with the life of his daughter despite that she is a grown up. The individual implication of Jessica's life is that like many women; she is still controlled by her father, who is a male representation in the story. Despite that, the social aspects of the UN sustainable development goals form the backbone of the SDG action plan; many women still lack access to resources and opportunities because of the social inequalities. The social aspect of the SDGs is important to the achievement of the 2030 plan because they encompass the important aspects that will be critical in achieving the goals; for instance, the eradication of the extreme poverty, social inequality, unhealthy lives, lack of access to education, gender inequality and lack of access to justice. The social sustainability goals aimed at ensuring that all human beings enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives. From the experience of Jessica, the social sustainability goal of gender equality cannot be achieved if women getting killed without any reason like the way Jessica was stabbed to death. Jessica's scenario shows that many women still do not have access to equal opportunities; they are exposed to risks and danger as they struggle to achieve equality. Her story illustrates the journey towards achieving the UN fifth goal in the sustainability action plan, which aims at achieving gender equality and empowering of all women and girls. From the scenario, the author tries to deconstruct of the woman's figure that takes place in the realm of the maternal. This shows individual development as Jessica starts to realize that life belongs to her, in which she must adore it. Sneaking to go and visit Antonio on the other side of the river shows her desire to attain personal sustainability. The individual implication for this story is that one needs to adore his or her life. Achieving the fifth goal in the 2030 action plan requires the participation of the women and girls mostly. Achieving gender equality requires input from the female gender. The female gender has been exposed to pain and suffering due to the gender inequalities. Based on the life of Jessica from the story, being a body with the river all the way to the rapids rather than with the boat....is a feminine pleasure" (Lunds universitet 173). In this context, the achievement of gender equality also depend on societal participation; thus, depicting the social implication of sustainability. The society has to give the female gender the light so that they can learn to give each other the light to equality. The feminine writing like Jessica's story is not about opposition, but instead, it tries to depict the truth to the essence of being. The life of Jessica represents the exclusion of women from various aspects of development including political, social and economic dimensions. From the experience of Jessica, it is clear that achieving gender equality and social justice for all women will require the mobilization of all forces including the learning institutions, family and political institutions. Regarding social justice and equality, the political institutions would have to go back to their primary mission of guaranteeing justice and peace while propelling the implementation of the social and economic action plans.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this essay has highlighted and discussed the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Plan of 2030. Two primary sustainability goals, eradicating poverty and achieving health access to all, have been discussed including the challenges that need to be addressed to achieve the goals successfully. Also, the ideological inconsistencies in the methods of implementing the action plan have also been discussed. Finally, Jessica's life scenario and how it applies to individual and social aspects of sustainability has also been explored and analyzed.

Works Cited

EU. "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs." European Union, January 25, 2017. Accessed on October 16, 2018 from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/sustainable-development/SDGs/index_en.htm

FDFA. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, November 27, 2017. Accessed on October 16, 2018 from https://www.eda.admin.ch/agenda2030/en/...