INTRODUCTION TO THE SDGS
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, are a
universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030. These 17 goals are
interconnected, recognizing that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must
balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Goal 1: No Poverty
• Objective: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
• Key Focus: Eradicating extreme poverty, ensuring access to social protection, and creating equal
economic opportunities.
Goal 2: Zero Hunger
• Objective: End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
• Key Focus: Reducing malnutrition, increasing agricultural productivity, and promoting sustainable food
production systems.
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
• Objective: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
• Key Focus: Reducing maternal mortality, ending epidemics (e.g., AIDS, tuberculosis), and ensuring
universal health coverage.
Goal 4: Quality Education
• Objective: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all.
• Key Focus: Improving education access, eliminating gender disparities, and enhancing education quality.
Goal 5: Gender Equality
• Objective: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
• Key Focus: Eliminating violence against women, ensuring women's participation in leadership, and
addressing inequalities in education and employment.
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• Objective: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
• Key Focus: Providing universal access to safe drinking water, improving water quality, and promoting
water-use efficiency.
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• Objective: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
• Key Focus: Expanding renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and ensuring universal energy
access.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Objective: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment, and decent work for all.
• Key Focus: Reducing unemployment, promoting entrepreneurship, and improving labor rights.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
• Objective: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster
innovation.
• Key Focus: Developing sustainable infrastructure, supporting research and innovation, and improving
access to technology.
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Objective: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
• Key Focus: Reducing income disparities, promoting social and economic inclusion, and enhancing
international financial systems.
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Objective: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
• Key Focus: Providing access to affordable housing, improving urban planning, and reducing environmental
impacts of cities.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• Objective: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
• Key Focus: Reducing waste generation, promoting resource efficiency, and encouraging sustainable
business practices.
Goal 13: Climate Action
• Objective: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
• Key Focus: Strengthening resilience to climate-related hazards, integrating climate measures into policies,
and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Goal 14: Life Below Water
• Objective: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable
development.
• Key Focus: Reducing marine pollution, protecting marine ecosystems, and regulating fishing practices.
Goal 15: Life on Land
• Objective: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, manage forests
sustainably, combat desertification, and halt biodiversity loss.
• Key Focus: Preventing deforestation, protecting biodiversity, and restoring degraded ecosystems.
Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
• Objective: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all, and build effective, accountable institutions.
• Key Focus: Reducing violence, promoting the rule of law, and ensuring participatory governance.
Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
• Objective: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable
development.
• Key Focus: Enhancing international cooperation, mobilizing resources, and encouraging partnerships
across sectors and nations.
