Dr. Marcia Balisciano, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility- RELX and Mrs. Graça Machel, Founder – Graca Machel Trust and SDG Advocate
The Graça Machel Trust (GMT) founder and also UN SGD Advocate, Mrs. Graça Machel on Wednesday, 24 June delivered the keynote address at the 2020 SGD Inspiration Day. The event, which was held virtually, attracted a panel of thought leaders from different sectors across the globe who are working on scalable actions towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Held under the theme ‘Creating the World We Want One Decade, 17 Goals now and Post-Pandemic, ’ the event aimed at inspiring collaborative, scalable action on the SDGs and identifying opportunities that can be leveraged to achieve the Goals post-Covid-19, innovations required to accelerate the achievement of the Goals and what it means for the Goals in this ‘new normal’.
Mrs Machel delivered a very powerful and inspiring topic on ‘Creating the World We Want’, and spoke passionately about how the SDGs can be used to benefit women and girls in spite of the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In her welcoming and introductory remarks, the host Dr. Marcia Balisciano, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at RELX read out one of Mrs. Machel’s inspiring quotes that truly resonated with the theme of the event.
“Recent events have shown us that we are a simple, single, independent world, but the burden of a crisis falls heavily on developing countries and on their peoples. Everything that we have learnt tells us that the children will be feeling the harshest and most permanent effects.”- Graça Machel.
During the event, Mrs. Machel had an opportunity to listen to young women who passionately presented their experiences which were also inspiring and effective in implementing the SDGs. In her address, she gave an overview of the adaptation of the Development Goals in 2015. She reminded the audience that it was a milestone that brought together the best of goodwill that the human family could have unleashed together. She added, “I have never seen such a broad and complete movement in which everyone was eager to contribute to design what the heads of nations at the United Nations would adopt at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”
She emphasised on the bold commitments that were made by governments, the private sector, multilateral and bilateral development partners and agencies, civil society organisations. “There was huge amount of enthusiasm, optimism and we all felt that finally, we have developed a common space around which we are going to rally and give the best of ourselves to really create the world we want,” added Mrs. Graça Machel.
Mrs. Machel called on the urgent need to look deeply into how the SDGs are being implemented, especially this year, as the world’s focus is on Covid-19. She looked back at the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres call when he addressed the General Assembly and asked the audience if they could keep up the enthusiasm, the commitment and the pace of something which cannot be delayed.
“The Secretary-General reminded us of something we should think about…that at the current pace, 250 years will be needed to close the gender gap, and the current pace, half a billion of people will be living in extreme poverty in 2030. That should tell us that if we all agree that women have to be at the centre of the transformative attitude we all should have towards development, if we are moving this slow in gender equality then surely many of the other 17 Goals will be affected and will not be achieved.”- Graça Machel.
Poverty still stands very high on what was agreed- “There is no reason why millions of people should remain living in extreme poverty because we do have the resources, the knowledge, the capacity and have developed the right energy and commitments to fight extreme poverty, we are told that at the current pace, we will get to 2030 and still at least half a billion people will be in extreme poverty”, she said.
Mrs. Graça Machel emphasised that as a human family, governments, development partners, research institutions, civil society organisations and private sectors have failed to live up to the level of commitment and level of pace required to achieve the SDGs.She , added, “COVID-19 found us all unprepared, and no one will be left out from its threat, but the positive part of it is that if we manage to come together and feel that we are our brother and sister’s keeper, no one could be spared from the impact of the pandemic”.
She applauded the solidarity that came in response to Covid-19 and commended solidarity between governments. These developing countries supported the poorest countries of the world, even the private sector that has put resources together and is working hard to produce what is necessary for the continued spread of the novel coronavirus.
Mrs. Machel acknowledged the great job everyone is doing and the precautions everyone is taking in to fight COVID and says “I think this is a positive moment because it has reminded us that we do have the capacity to mobilise when we feel there is a common cause which has to be tackled now and we can simply succeed, failure is not an option.”– Graça Machel.
The convening took place at a very opportune time as the Graça Machel Trust is celebrating its 10th year anniversary through the Expanding Equality Initiative which draws from and anchors around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Trust focuses its advocacy work towards achieving SDGs Goal1 No Poverty; Goal 2 Zero Hunger; Goal 3 Good Health and Wellbeing; Goals 4 Quality Education; Goal 5Gender Equality and Goal 17 Partnerships.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs. Graça Machel wrote an Open Letter on the impact of COVID-19 on African women: bold actions to mitigate and drive meaningful reconstruction efforts. This Open Letter was co-authored with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Vera Songwe, and Maria Ramos. It calls upon all stakeholders to ensure that global and African COVID-19 response efforts place women and girls at the core of recovery and reconstruction. Read here
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.