Navigating the SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also known as the Global Goals were adopted in 2015 by the United Nations as a blueprint to promote peace, people, prosperity, planet and partnership for all. The SDGs represent a more comprehensive agenda than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with 17 goals, 169 targets and well over 200 indicators. This comes as a response to the global crisis ravaging countries of the earth and the need for partnership to achieve the goals.

2023 marked the halfway point in the journey to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Despite the contributions of changemakers all over the world , the UN progress report reveals more than half of the world is left behind. Only 15 per cent of the 169 targets are on track to being achieved by 2030, with 8 per cent going backwards. More than 30 per cent of the SDGs have either stalled or gone into reverse, which is a terrifying outcome. Amidst global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and hunger, insurgency, amongst others, there is a rising need for a collective effort to drive the SDGs.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises the importance of all stakeholders in achieving the SDGs, including the government, private sector, civil society, academia, media, and youth groups. To this effect, the Nigerian Youth SDGs Network registered as the Network of Youth for Sustainable Initiative - NGYouthSDGs, is taking the initiative to develop an SDGs Massive Open Online Course (MOOC.) This e-learning course will raise awareness and equip Nigerians on actionable steps that can be taken to drive the SDGs in their communities and engage with key stakeholders on accountability for the SDGs

The SDGs MOOC will be an e-learning course available at no cost and provision of a certificate will be made after completion of the course The course will be developed using the SDGs Playbook, (a resource created by the NGYouthSDGs and endorsed by the United Nations ) and will incorporate young changemakers in Nigeria give practical insights into how they are contributing to achieving the SDGs. The course will be available for both formal and informal sectors, and it will be designed to be visually appealing and easy to use.