The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development helps us to imagine a better world, one where there is peace, partnership and prosperity for everybody and for the planet. But the 2030 Agenda goes beyond imagination to provide a blueprint for actually achieving this vision.
At the start of 2019, as the world enters its 4th year of collective action towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), WHO/Europe remains committed to building the world envisioned by these goals. WHO/Europe has developed a roadmap, adopted by Member States in 2017, to assist countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda, building on Health 2020, the European policy for health and well-being. Furthermore, the 13th General Programme of Work, adopted by WHO Member States in 2018, is based on a commitment to the SDGs and aims to lead a transformative agenda that will support countries in reaching all health-related SDG targets.
The goal of health and well-being for all at all ages (Goal 3) may be the most obviously relevant for WHO. But it cannot be reached without addressing the major health determinants that feature in other goals, for example: taking urgent action to combat climate change (Goal 13); achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls (Goal 5); ending poverty in all forms (Goal 1); reducing inequalities within and between countries (Goal 10); making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (Goal 11); ensuring quality education (Goal 4); and more. Promoting good health contributes to many of the Global Goals, as they in turn contribute to better health and well-being.
WHO/Europe has launched a new video highlighting a few of the many factors that influence health, all of which are included in the SDGs. Viewed from the perspective of children who will be teenagers by 2030, the video states, “They deserve to live in a healthier world where air pollution, child abuse and deadly diseases are bad dreams, not daily realities”. The SDGs offer the clearest path for building that better, healthier future together.
To learn more about the SDGs’ relevance in the WHO European Region and what progress is being made to achieve them, visit the WHO/Europe Sustainable Development Goals site.
