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Gender Equality 👧🧑🏻 SDG 5 👩‍💼 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Goal 5: Gender equality - The Global Goals

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Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

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Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 🏭 SDG 9 🏗️ Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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No poverty 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 SDG 1 🌍 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Good Health and Well-Being 🩺🩹 SDG 3 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Sustainable Cities and Communities 🏙️ SDG 11 🌿 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Zero Hunger 🍴🥗 SDG 2 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Quality Education 📚 SDG 4 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Clean Water and Sanitation 💧 SDG 6 🛁 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Decent Work and Economic Growth 📈 SDG 8 💼 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Reduced Inequalities 📈 SDG 10 🔁 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions 🕊️ SDG 16 👮‍♀️ Sustainable Development Goals for Children

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Affordable and Clean Energy 🌏♻️ SDG 7 ⚡️ Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Climate Action ☀️ SDG 13 🌡️ Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Responsible Consumption and Production 🏗️ SDG 12 🌍 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Life on Land 🌳 SDG 15 🐻 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Life Below Water 🌊 SDG 14 🐚 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Partnerships to achieve goals 🤝 SDG 17 🌍 Sustainable Development Goals for Children

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Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure - The Global Goals

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Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

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Goal 4: Quality education - The Global Goals

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Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

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Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities - The Global Goals

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Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

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Goal 14: Life below water - The Global Goals

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Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

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Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production - The Global Goals

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Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

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Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals - The Global Goals

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Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

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End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

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End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

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Goal 3: Good health and well-being - The Global Goals

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Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

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Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation - The Global Goals

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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

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Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth - The Global Goals

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Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

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What is Poverty? | World Vision Australia

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What causes poverty? | World Vision Australia

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10% of the world's population lives on less than $1.90 a day.

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Microfinance is a term used to describe financial services, such as loans, savings, insurance and fund transfers to entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals who lack access to traditional banking services.

Dr. Mohammad Yunus is considered a pioneer of modern microfinance. He experimented with making small loans, which he funded himself, to women in Bangladesh making bamboo furniture who had previously relied on loans with unfair and predatory terms to purchase raw materials. He discovered these very tiny loans, which traditional banks did not want to make due to the perceived risks and costs, could make a disproportionate difference to a poor person and given the chance they would pay them back creating a viable business model. He would go on to found Grameen Bank in 1983 and win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Inspired by the work of Dr. Yunus, Kiva was founded in 2005 with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. By leveraging the internet and crowdfunding, Kiva allows anyone, for as little as $25, to help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential.

Over the past 10 years Kiva has enabled more than 1.5 million people to fund over 2 million borrowers in over 80 countries. The result has been more than $1 billion dollars lent to borrowers and repaid at a rate greater than 97%.

If you're interested in participating in microfinance we recommend learning more about Kiva, how lending works and then getting started by making a loan.

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Microfinance is a term used to describe financial services, such as loans, savings, insurance and fund transfers to entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals who lack access to traditional banking services. Dr. Mohammad Yunus is considered a pioneer of modern microfinance.

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Josette Sheeran, the head of the UN's World Food Program, talks about why, in a world with enough food for everyone, people still go hungry, still die of starvation, still use food as a weapon of war. Her vision: "Food is one issue that cannot be solved person by person.

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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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CFS – Making a Difference in Food Security and Nutrition – the full story [LONG VERSION]

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We work in the hardest-to-reach places, where it's toughest to be a child.

When you give to Save the Children, 85% of every dollar goes straight to our mission to provide lifesaving relief to children.

$50 can provide enough food to keep 3 children from going hungry for a month

$150 can wrap 30 warm, cozy blankets around children affected by conflict

$300 can provide 150 face masks to refugee health workers on the front lines

With your support, we can continue our work to keep children in the U.S. and around the world healthy, educated and safe.

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Humanitarian Aid Organization for Children

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When you give to Save the Children, 85% of every dollar goes straight to our mission to provide lifesaving relief to children. $50 can provide enough food to keep 3 children from going hungry for a month $150 can wrap 30 warm, cozy blankets around children affected by conflict $300 can provide 150 face masks to refugee health workers on the front lines With your support, we can continue our work to keep children in the U.S.

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World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific

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Universal health coverage: Launch of pilot programmes in Kenya

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In a world characterized by an ageing population, more and more people suffering from long-term chronic disease, and ever-increasing healthcare costs, improving healthcare value by delivering better health outcomes to patients at lower costs is a critical imperative. We have a long journey ahead in building sustainable heath systems globally that put people at the centre, and we believe we have a collective responsibility to do so.

For the past three years, a critical source of new thinking and research on how to improve healthcare value has been the World Economic Forum's Value in Healthcare project. Since its launch in July 2016, the project has laid the foundation for health system transformation by defining the critical components of a value-based health system and by emphasizing the centrality of multi-stakeholder collaboration to achieving value-based system transformation. In this report, the third and final instalment in the Value in Healthcare report series, we introduce three concrete steps for accelerating the pace of value-based transformation in health systems around the world: 1. A user guide for policymakers and private sectors stakeholders that synthesizes key learnings from efforts around the world to transform health systems towards value; 2. A practical roadmap to guide health informatics standardization, improving our ability to leverage the powerful force of healthcare data towards medical research and real-world evidence, clinical decision-making, patient empowerment and ultimately, improvement in care outcomes; 3. A global coalition that can foster collaboration and continue to drive the agenda for value-based health systems.

We are at a critical turning point for value in healthcare globally. Stakeholders in the sector need to codify and disseminate best practices, develop the global enablers for value-based healthcare, and create new platforms for deeper collaboration. The World Economic Forum and its partners remain committed to collaborating with key stakeholders to drive value-based transformation of the global health systems.

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In a world characterized by an ageing population, more and more people suffering from long-term chronic disease, and ever-increasing healthcare costs, improving healthcare value by delivering better health outcomes to patients at lower costs is a critical imperative.

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Tobacco fact sheet from WHO providing key facts and information on surveillance, second-hand smoke, quitting, picture warnings, ad bans, taxes, WHO response.

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The world is off track to make significant progress towards universal health coverage (Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.8) by 2030. Improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population that faced catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket health spending increased continuously since 2000. This global pattern is consistent across all regions and the majority of countries.

The UHC service coverage index increased from 45 to 68 between 2000 and 2021. However, recent progress in increasing coverage has slowed compared to pre-2015 gains, rising only 3 index points between 2015 and 2021 and showing no change since 2019.

The proportion of the population not covered by essential health services decreased by about 15% between 2000 and 2021, with minimal progress made after 2015. This indicates that in 2021, about 4.5 billion people were not fully covered by essential health services.

About 2 billion people are facing financial hardship including 1 billion experiencing catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending (SDG indicator 3.8.2) or 344 million people going deeper into extreme poverty due to health costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted essential services in 92% of countries at the height of the pandemic in 2021. In 2022, 84% of countries still reported disruptions.

To build back better, WHO's recommendation is to reorient health systems using a primary health care (PHC) approach. Most (90%) of essential UHC interventions can be delivered through a PHC approach, potentially saving 60 million lives and increasing average global life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.

Overview

Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care across the life course.

The delivery of these services requires health and care workers with an optimal skills mix at all levels of the health system, who are equitably distributed, adequately supported with access to quality assured products, and enjoying decent work.

Protecting people from the financial consequences of paying for health services out of their own pockets reduces the risk that people will be pushed into poverty because the cost of needed services and treatments requires them to use up their life savings, sell assets, or borrow - destroying their futures and often those of their children.

Achieving UHC is one of the targets the nations of the world set when they adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. At the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on UHC in 2019, countries reaffirmed that health is a precondition for and an outcome and indicator of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work aims to have 1 billion more people benefit from UHC by 2025, while also contributing to the targets of 1 billion more people better protected from health emergencies and 1 billion more people enjoying better health and well-being.

Progress towards UHC

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, progress towards UHC was already faltering. The impressive pace of progress in expanding service coverage prior to 2015 did not continue as the UHC service coverage index (SDG indicator 3.8.1) increased only 3 points to 68 by 2019 and stagnated at this level through 2021. This indicates that in 2021, about 4.5 billion people were not fully covered by essential health services. The portion of the population incurring catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending (SDG 3.8.2) increased continuously from 9.6% in 2000 to 13.5% in 2019 when it surpassed 1 billion people. Moreover, in 2019, out-of-pocket health spending dragged 344 million people further into extreme poverty and 1.3 billion into relative poverty. In total, in 2019, 2 billion people faced any form of financial hardship (catastrophic, impoverishing or both).

The global pattern of the recent stagnating progress in service coverage while catastrophic health spending increases continuously is consistent across all regions, country income groups and most countries at all income levels.

Inequalities continue to be a fundamental challenge for UHC. Even where there is national progress on health service coverage, the aggregate data mask inequalities within-countries. For example, coverage of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health services tends to be higher among those who are richer, more educated, and living in urban areas, especially in low-income countries. On financial hardship, catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending is more prevalent among people living in households with older members (age 60 years or over). People living in poorer households, rural areas and in households with older family members (those aged 60 and older) are more likely to be further dragged into poverty by out-of-pocket health spending. Monitoring health inequalities is essential to identify and track disadvantaged populations to provide decision-makers with an evidence base to formulate more equity-oriented policies, programmes and practices towards the progressive realization of UHC. Better data are also needed on gender inequalities, socioeconomic disadvantages, and specific issues faced by indigenous peoples and refugee and migrant populations displaced by conflict and economic and environmental crises.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, essential services were disrupted in 92% of countries. In 2022, 84% of countries still reported disruptions. In 2021, some 25 million children under 5 years missed out on routine immunization. There were glaring disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines, with an average of 34% of the population vaccinated in low-income countries compared to almost 73% in high-income countries as of June 2023. Potentially life-saving emergency, critical and operative care interventions also showed increased service disruptions, likely resulting in significant near-term impact on health outcomes.

As a foundation for and way to move towards UHC, WHO recommends reorienting health systems using a primary health care (PHC) approach. PHC is the most inclusive, equitable, cost-effective and efficient approach to enhance people's physical and mental health, as well as social well-being. It enables universal, integrated access to health services as close as possible to people's everyday environments. It also helps deliver the full range of quality services and products that people need for health and well-being, thereby improving coverage and financial protection. Significant cost efficiencies can be achieved and most (90%) essential UHC interventions can be delivered through a PHC approach. Some 75% of the projected health gains from the SDGs could also be realized through PHC, including saving over 60 million lives and increasing average global life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.

Strengthening health systems based on PHC should result in measurable health impact in countries.

Can UHC be measured?

Yes.

The UHC target of the SDGs measures the ability of countries to ensure that everyone receives the health care they need, when and where they need it, without facing financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of key services from health promotion to prevention, protection, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. Progress on UHC is tracked using two indicators:

coverage of essential health services (SDG 3.8.1); and

catastrophic health spending (and related indicators) (SDG 3.8.2).

More information can be found in a Q&A available here.

Detailed data is provided in the WHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository for UHC. Country profiles can be downloaded from https://data.who.int/.

Based on this data, WHO publishes global reports on UHC every two years. See the reports here.

WHO response

UHC is firmly based on the 1948 WHO Constitution, which declares health a fundamental human right and commits to ensuring the highest attainable level of health for all.

As a foundation for UHC, WHO recommends reorienting health systems towards primary health care (PHC). In countries with fragile health systems, WHO focuses on technical assistance to build national institutions and service delivery to fill critical gaps in emergencies. In more robust health system settings, WHO drives public health impact towards health coverage for all through policy dialogue for the systems of the future and strategic support to improve performance.

But WHO is not alone: WHO works with many different partners in different situations and for different purposes to advance UHC around the world.

Some of WHO's partnerships include:

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Fact sheet on Universal health coverage (UHC): key facts, what is UHC, benefits of implementing UHC and WHO response

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Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a major threat to human health around the world. Previous publications have estimated the effect of AMR on incidence, deaths, hospital length of stay, and health-care costs for specific pathogen-drug combinations in select locations. To our knowledge, this study presents the most comprehensive estimates of AMR burden to date.

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Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a major threat to human health around the world. Previous publications have estimated the effect of AMR on incidence, deaths, hospital length of stay, and health-care costs for specific pathogen-drug combinations in select locations. To our knowledge, this study presents the most comprehensive estimates of AMR burden to date.

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Behind the scenes: 27 empty school buses | UNICEF

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Malala Yousafzai, 16, and Her Miraculous Story of Surviving Being Shot by the Taliban

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Watch Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

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With more than 130 million girls out of school today, she needs your help breaking down the barriers that hold girls back.

Your gift today is an investment in Malala Fund programmes that help girls around the world go to school.

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Learn how Malala began her fight for girls - from an education activist in Pakistan to the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate - and how she continues her campaign through Malala Fund.

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United Nations Development Programme | UNDP

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UNDP works to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities through the sustainable development of nations, in more than 170 countries and territories.

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The Daily Show - Malala Yousafzai Extended Interview

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These seven shocking stats show just how unequal the world is for women

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World Economic Forum | 404: Page cannot be found

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The global campaign to transform girls' lives through education, Because I am a Girl, ran from 2012 to 2018. Together with girls and our supporters we were able to raise hundreds of millions of euros, change laws in numerous countries and, most importantly, support millions of girls to get an education.
Check out the timeline below to see some of the highlights from Because I am a Girl.

2003 - Establishing a girls' rights focus

In 1997, former Plan International Germany Director Marianne Raven was in Nepal discussing the challenges faced by a rural community.

She saw a girl called Sharmila who didn't have enough clothes on to keep her warm.

When Marianne asked her mother why she wasn't being cared for, the mother replied, "Because she is a girl," and the idea for a campaign, focusing on girls, was born.

In 2003, Plan International Germany was the first office to start a campaign dedicated to girls.

This marked the start of a growing focus from Plan International on the needs and rights of girls that resulted in Because I am a Girl transforming girls' lives in over 70 countries.

2007- Tracking the state of the world's girls

Between 2007 and 2015, we released a series of annual reports focusing on girls and young women in the world.

The State of the World's Girls reports brought together leading thinkers, activists and policy makers to provide a wealth of data and the experiences of marginalised girls from around the world on the major issues facings them.

The reports highlighted the double jeopardy girls face for being young and female and the concerted effort needed for real progress.

2011 - Securing an international day for girls

While there has long been an International Women's Day and an International Day of the Child, neither recognise the unique position of girls who are discriminated against simply for being young and female.

Plan International campaigned alongside girls for an international day that celebrates their power and highlights the issues they face.

With support from the Canadian government, we took our call to the UN who adopted 11 October as International Day of the Girl in 2011.

It is now celebrated globally with girls, their allies, governments, charities, corporations and the media increasingly focussing on the power of girls on the day each year.

2012 - Because I am a Girl launches

The Because I am a Girl campaign launched on the first ever International Day of the Girl in 2012. The targets of the campaign were to:

Directly reach 4 million girls through programmes

Indirectly reach 40 million children through programmes

Reach 400 million children through policy changes

Raise €500 million

Watch our award-winning stop-motion film I'll take it from here which explains the importance of girls' education.

2012 - Landmarks turn pink for girls' education

Every year on International Day of the Girl, famous buildings and landmarks were lit up in pink to raise public awareness of the importance of girls' education.

Among the sights that were turned pink over the years were the Empire State Building, the London Eye, Niagara Falls, Pyramids in Egypt and Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium.

London Eye, UK

Pyramids, Egypt

Empire State Building, USA

2013 - UN taken over by youth for the first time

In July 2013, Plan International supported 15 youth activists to join the first ever youth takeover of the UN.

They were part of a delegation of more than 600 young people led by Malala Yousafzai.

At the event, on the day of her 16th birthday, Malala made her famous speech calling for the urgent prioritisation of education around the world.

"One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution," she said.

2014

Smashing the barriers keeping girls out of school

As part of Because I am a Girl, programmes ran across the world to tear down the barriers preventing girls from getting an education.

We have been working directly to end child marriage and other forms of violence against girls, and to change communities' perceptions about what girls are capable of.

A number of our programmes have proved to be such a success that they have grown and are still improving girls' lives, such as our Safer Cities and Champions of Change initiatives.

Raise your hand

In 2012, Plan International launched the Raise Your Hand petition to put pressure on the UN to prioritise girls' education in the Global Goals.

In 2014, the petition was handed over to the UN with over 2.3 million people globally having raised their hands for girls' education.

Among those who supported the petition were youth campaigner Malala Yousafzai, actress Freida Pinto and UN Special Envoy for Education Gordon Brown.

Norwegian child bride blog goes global

In 2014, Plan International Norway created a fictional blog about 12-year-old Thea who was due to marry 37-year-old Geir.

The story soon went viral with celebrities such as actor Ashton Kutcher and global media outlets sharing the story.

The campaign highlighted how child marriage stands in the way of millions of girls being able to go to school and follow their ambitions.

2015 - Campaign smashes targets

Just 2 years into the campaign, Because I am a Girl had become a powerful force for change. In that period, it had:

Directly impacted the lives of over 3 million girls, over 75% of the initial target

Raised over €436 million, over 87% of the initial target

Contributed to changing laws or policies in 17 countries

2015 - Influencing the international development agenda for girls

Our work to influence the Global Goals began in 2011. We wanted to make sure the issues faced by the girls were properly addressed, including their right to an education.

When the goals were signed in 2015, we supported 15 girls to go to the United Nations and call on leaders to hold to their promise to ensure quality education for all children.

The Global Goals, which include a target of achieving gender equality by 2030, now frame all of Plan International's work. We are working with partners to influence governments to localise the Global Goals and meet the needs and rights of girls.

2015 - Girls take over the world

International Day of the Girl 2016 saw the first global #GirlsTakeover. Girls stepped into the shoes of leaders in more than 50 countries to call on their governments to remove the barriers that deny millions their rights and stop girls going to school.

The President of Nepal was taken over along with the Vice President of Paraguay as well as Mayors in Madrid and Dublin, and the heads of media outlets and major corporations across the world.

2016 - Making cities safe for girls

Girls' inability to move around cities safely is a huge barrier that stops them going to school.

That's why, in 2016, Plan International UK delivered a petition signed by people from over 90 countries to the UN calling on governments to improve the safety of cities for girls.

After the petition was handed over, UN member states signed the New Urban Agenda which commits them to guaranteeing girls' safety, access to public spaces and their ability to move freely in cities.

2017 - Influencing laws to end child marriage

Child marriage is a huge barrier that prevents girls from getting an education.

Throughout the Because I am a Girl campaign, we have been working to end child marriage and as a result of our influencing work with partners, the first ever resolutions on child marriage were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council and the General Assembly in 2013.

Later in the campaign our work helped to raise the legal age of marriage for girls to 18 in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

2018 - World leaders commit to fund education

In February 2018, $2.3 billion was pledged by donor governments to fund education in low-income countries between 2018 and 2020. This was an increase on the $1.3 billion pledged for the previous 3 years. In addition, developing countries increased their collective budget for education from $80 billion to $110 billion.

This pledge took place following our #WeAreTheNext campaign in which girls called on their governments to increase education funding.

The increased funding will support millions of girls to go to school and transform their futures.

2018 - Girls Get Equal launches

Plan International's new global campaign is Girls Get Equal. This youth-led social change campaign is about ensuring every girl and young woman has power over her life and the world around her.

Instead of focussing on a single issue, such as girls' education, we are aiming to change the way girls are valued in society so they no longer have to face injustice and oppression.

Girls Get Equal is about girls not holding back and conforming to what stereotypes dictate. It's about power, leadership and youth-led action to advance girls' rights and gender equality. And we're raising our voices to amplify theirs.

Will you join us?

Because I am a Girl has finished as a global campaign but will remain as a national campaign in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and UK.

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The global campaign to transform girls' lives through education, Because I am a Girl, ran from 2012 to 2018. Together with girls and our supporters we were able to raise hundreds of millions of euros, change laws in numerous countries and, most importantly, support millions of girls to get an education.

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Why Water? Learn about the water crisis and how you can help | charity: water

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WHO fact sheet on water: key facts, access to water, water and health

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Key facts

In 2022, 57% of the global population (4.6 billion people) used a safely managed sanitation service.

Over 1.5 billion people still do not have basic sanitation services, such as private toilets or latrines.

Of these, 419 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water.

In 2020, 44% of the household wastewater generated globally was discharged without safe treatment (1).

At least 10% of the world's population is thought to consume food irrigated by wastewater.

Poor sanitation reduces human well-being, social and economic development due to impacts such as anxiety, risk of sexual assault, and lost opportunities for education and work.

Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as typhoid, intestinal worm infections and polio. It exacerbates stunting and contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Overview

According to the latest WASH-related burden of disease estimates, 1.4 million people die each year as a result of inadequate drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene. The vast majority of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries. Unsafe sanitation accounts for 564 000 of these deaths, largely from diarrhoeal disease, and it is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma. Poor sanitation also contributes to malnutrition.

In 2022, 57% of the global population (4.6 billion people) used a safely managed sanitation service; 33% (2.7 billion people) used private sanitation facilities connected to sewers from which wastewater was treated; 21% (1.7 billion people) used toilets or latrines where excreta were safely disposed of in situ; and 88% of the world's population (7.2 billion people) used at least a basic sanitation service (2).

Diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths among children aged under 5 years, 395 000 in the year 2019.

Open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. The countries where open defection is most widespread have the highest number of deaths of children aged under 5 years as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and big disparities of wealth.

Benefits of improving sanitation

reducing the spread of intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause suffering for millions;

reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition;

promoting dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls;

promoting school attendance: girls' school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate sanitary facilities;

reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance;

potential safe recovery of water, nutrients and renewable energy from wastewater and sludge; and

potential to increase overall community resilience to climate shocks, for example through safe use of wastewater for irrigation to mitigate water scarcity.

Benefits of improved sanitation extend well beyond reducing the risk of diarrhoea. These include:

A WHO study in 2012 calculated that for every US$ 1.00 invested in sanitation, there was a return of US$ 5.50 in lower health costs, more productivity and fewer premature deaths.

Challenges

In 2013, the UN Deputy Secretary-General issued a call to action on sanitation that included the elimination of open defecation by 2025. The world is on track to eliminate open defecation by 2030, if not by 2025, but historical rates of progress would need to double for the world to achieve universal coverage with basic sanitation services by 2030. To achieve universal safely managed services, rates would need to increase five-fold.

The situation in urban areas, particularly in dense, low income and informal areas, is a growing challenge as sewerage is precarious or non-existent, space for toilets is at a premium, poorly designed and managed pits and septic tanks contaminate open drains and groundwater and services for faecal sludge removal are unavailable or unaffordable. Inequalities are compounded when sewage discharged into storm drains and waterways pollutes poorer low-lowing areas of cities. The effects of climate change - floods, water scarcity and droughts, and sea level rise - is setting back progress for the billions of people without safely managed services and threatens to undermine existing services if they are not made more resilient.

Wastewater and sludge are increasingly seen as a valuable resource in the circular economy that can provide reliable water and nutrients for food production and recovered energy in various forms. In fact, use of wastewater and sludge is already commonplace, but much is used unsafely without adequate treatment, controls on use or regulatory oversight. Safe use that prevents transmission of excreta-related disease is vital to reduce harms and maximize beneficial use of wastewater and sludge.

In 2019 UN-Water launched the SDG6 global acceleration framework (GAF). On World Toilet Day 2020, WHO and UNICEF launched the State of the world's sanitation report laying out the scale of the challenge in terms of health impact, sanitation coverage, progress, policy and investment and also laying out an acceleration agenda for sanitation under the GAF.

WHO response

In 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right and called for international efforts to help countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking-water and sanitation. Sustainable Development Goal target 6.2 calls for adequate and equitable sanitation for all and target 6.3 calls for halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse.

As the international authority on public health, WHO leads global efforts to prevent transmission of diseases, advising governments on health-based regulation and service delivery. On sanitation, WHO monitors global burden of disease (SDG 3.9) and the level of sanitation access and wastewater treatment (SDG 6.2, 6.3) and analyses what helps and hinders progress (SDG 6a, 6b and GLAAS). Such monitoring gives Member States and donors global data to help decide how to invest in providing toilets and ensuring safe management of wastewater and excreta.
References

1. UN Habitat and WHO, 2021. Progress on wastewater treatment - Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.3.1. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva.

2. Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: special focus on gender. New York: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), 2023. https://washdata.org/reports/jmp-2023-wash-households

WHO works with partners on promoting effective risk assessment and management practices for sanitation in communities and health facilities based on evidence and tools including WHO guidelines on sanitation and health, safe use of wastewater, recreational water quality and promotion of sanitation safety planning and sanitary inspections, and through communities of practice such as RegNet and the sanitation workers initiative. WHO also supportscollaboration between WASH and health programmes where sanitation is critical for disease prevention and risk reduction including neglected tropical diseases, cholera, polio and antimicrobial resistance, and environmental surveillance of pathogens.Aspects of climate resilience are incorporated in all WHO sanitation guidance documents.

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Sanitation fact sheet provides key facts and information on benefits of improving sanitation, challenges and WHO response

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The JMP 2022 progress update presents country, regional and global estimates for the period 2000 to 2021 and has a special focus on the linkages between WASH and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

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The JMP 2022 progress update presents country, regional and global estimates for the period 2000 to 2021 and has a special focus on the linkages between WASH and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

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Since 1974, Clean Water Fund has helped people campaign successfully for cleaner and safer water, cleaner air, and protection from toxic pollution in our homes, neighborhoods and workplaces. Organizations and coalitions formed and assisted by Clean Water Fund have worked together to improve environmental conditions, prevent or clean up health-threatening pollution in hundreds of communities and to strengthen policies locally and nationally.

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Since 1974, Clean Water Fund has helped people campaign successfully for cleaner and safer water, cleaner air, and protection from toxic pollution in our homes, neighborhoods and workplaces. Organizations and coalitions formed and assisted by Clean Water Fund have worked together to improve environmental conditions, prevent or clean up health-threatening pollution in hundreds of communities and to strengthen policies locally and nationally.

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Microfinance is a term used to describe financial services, such as loans, savings, insurance and fund transfers to entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals who lack access to traditional banking services.

Dr. Mohammad Yunus is considered a pioneer of modern microfinance. He experimented with making small loans, which he funded himself, to women in Bangladesh making bamboo furniture who had previously relied on loans with unfair and predatory terms to purchase raw materials. He discovered these very tiny loans, which traditional banks did not want to make due to the perceived risks and costs, could make a disproportionate difference to a poor person and given the chance they would pay them back creating a viable business model. He would go on to found Grameen Bank in 1983 and win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Inspired by the work of Dr. Yunus, Kiva was founded in 2005 with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. By leveraging the internet and crowdfunding, Kiva allows anyone, for as little as $25, to help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential.

Over the past 10 years Kiva has enabled more than 1.5 million people to fund over 2 million borrowers in over 80 countries. The result has been more than $1 billion dollars lent to borrowers and repaid at a rate greater than 97%.

If you're interested in participating in microfinance we recommend learning more about Kiva, how lending works and then getting started by making a loan.

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Microfinance is a term used to describe financial services, such as loans, savings, insurance and fund transfers to entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals who lack access to traditional banking services. Dr. Mohammad Yunus is considered a pioneer of modern microfinance.

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[INFOGRAPHIC] Today’s Minimum Wage Worker

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Minimum wage is a popular topic these days, but have you stopped to think about who the minimum wage worker really is? The minimum wage worker is not who...

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In August 2013, an 827 km underwater fiber optic cable arrived in Tonga, linking the country with Fiji via the Southern Cross Cable link between Australia and the United States. Arrival of the cable brings broadband internet to Tonga which will provide better and cheaper ICT services. The country's health sector is making plans on how to improve services with better internet connection to the outer islands and with other countries.

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Faster internet in Tonga = better healthcare

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Arrival of the cable brings broadband internet to Tonga which will provide better and cheaper ICT services. The country's health sector is making plans on how to improve services with better internet connection to the outer islands and with other countries.

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The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a unique two-phase United Nations (UN) summit that was initiated in order to create an evolving multi- stakeholder platform aimed at addressing the issues raised by information and communication technologies (ICTs) through a structured and inclusive approach at the national, regional and international levels. The goal of WSIS is to achieve a common vision, desire and commitment to build a people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information. The first phase took place in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003 and the second phase took place in Tunis, from 16 to 18 November 2005. In 2003, the number of participants was 11,000 representing 175 countries and in 2005 the number of participants was more than 19,000 representing 174 countries. Since then, a cluster of WSIS-related events was held on an annual basis. In 2009, the cluster of WSIS-related events was re-branded as WSIS Forum. WSIS Forum is organized each year, hosted by the ITU and co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP.

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The World Bank’s Digital Transformation team works hand-in-hand with governments to help create strong foundations for the digital economy to thrive. Our work focuses on addressing supply and demand side constraints to digital transformation, around key pillars including inclusive access to fast, reliable, safe and affordable internet. Across the World Bank Group, we are working to stimulate demand for digital applications, digital skills and digital platforms to support governments, business and individuals to participate more fully in the digital economy.

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The ODI was founded in 2012 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Nigel Shadbolt, placing us at the heart of the data economy. Our primary mission is to foster transparency, accountability, and innovation through data.

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Videos Bangladesh is vulnerable to natural disasters. Here's how it has learnt to cope
Bangladesh is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. The country is prone to disasters such as cyclones, flooding and landslides. But in the past 50 years Bangladesh has made a lot of progress on climate resilience. Its journey began when it was hit by the deadliest cyclone in recorded history. In 1970 Cyclone Bhola took the lives of 300,000 people. Today, cyclones of comparable intensity cause 99% fewer fatalities in Bangladesh thanks to decades of investment in climate resilience.

Are you an impact-driven investor? We are looking to select 10 new funds which will join UpLink's Top Investor community by the end of 2023. Submit your fund today!

Are you working on a game-changing solution for sustainability? Submit your solution on UpLink.

Supporting the implementation of world-leading innovations in urban sustainability

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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

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Commentary: Global Infrastructure Needs an Upgrade | New Climate Economy | Commission on the Economy and Climate

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We have a choice in the next few years. Invest in the dirty, unhealthy, and unsustainable infrastructure of the past, or leap forward to the clean, efficient, and affordable infrastructure of the future, writes President Felipe Calderón in CNN Money.

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The Sustainable Development Goals Explained: Reduced Inequalities

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Nyle DiMarco on the first Int'l Day of Sign Languages (23 September)

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1 page Goals Comics - full set PDF Magazine with 18 Pages from alisonbellwood. Read more about goals and comics.

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Global, regional, and country/territory-level data on key dimensions of human development, with interactive insights and publications. The human development data are globally comparable, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and sourced from international data agencies with the mandate, resources, and expertise to collect national data on specific indicators unless otherwise noted.

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Global, regional, and country/territory-level data on key dimensions of human development, with interactive insights and publications. The human development data are globally comparable, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and sourced from international data agencies with the mandate, resources, and expertise to collect national data on specific indicators unless otherwise noted.

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#LearningWithUCLG - Learning about Localizing the SDG 11

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Sustainable Development: Goal 11 Sustainable cities and communities

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The United Nations member states have defined 17 sustainable development goals for 2030.
Goal 11 concerns the sustainability of cities and communities. 
One of the aims is to significantly reduce the number of victims affected by catastrophes.

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UN Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

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Home SDG Tracker Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities

Sustainable Development Goal 11
Sustainable Development Goal 11 is to "make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable", according to the United Nations.
The visualizations and data below present the global perspective on where the world stands today and how it has changed over time.

The UN has defined 10 targets and 16 indicators for SDG 11. Targets specify the goals and indicators represent the metrics by which the world aims to track whether these targets are achieved. Below we quote the original text of all targets and show the data on the agreed indicators.

Safe and affordable housing

Urban population living in slums

A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, durability of housing, and security of tenure.

Informal settlements are often synonymous with slums, and refer to settings lacking security of tenure, formal basic services and city infrastructure, and compliance with current planning and building regulations. Inadequate housing meets the same criteria used to define slums, but is also assessed on the criteria of affordability, location, and cultural adequacy.

Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualization as the share of urban population living in slums. Internationally comparable data for the other components of this indicator is not currently available.

Goal: By 2030 "ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums."

Affordable and sustainable transport systems

Public transport access

Although the United Nations Human Settlements Programme has developed a methodology for estimating this indicator, internationally comparable data by country is not yet available.

Inclusive and sustainable urbanization

Protect the world's cultural and natural heritage

Reduce the adverse effects of natural disasters

Deaths and injuries from natural disasters

We show a range of relevant indicators in the interactive visualizations. The first chart shows the rate of deaths and missing persons from natural disasters, given per 100,000 people in a population. The other charts in the series include a range of metrics relevant to indicator 11.5.1.

Economic losses from natural disasters

This indicator measures the ratio of direct economic loss from a disaster to gross domestic product, where direct economic loss is defined as the monetary value of totally or partially destroyed physical assets in the affected area. This includes losses in agriculture, all other productive assets, housing, critical infrastructure, and cultural heritage.

Country-level data for this indicator is shown in the first interactive visualization in the series. The other visualizations in the series provide data from other sources, and trends in this data at the global level.

Damage to critical infrastructure and disruptions to basic services

Limited internationally comparable data on this indicator is currently available, so is not reported here.

Reduce the environmental impacts of cities

Solid waste management

This indicator measures the share of urban solid waste that is regularly collected and managed.

Regional data is shown in the interactive visualization; it is not available at the national or municipal level.

Urban air pollution

This indicator measures the population-weighted exposure to ambient PM2.5 and PM10 pollution; that is, concentrations of suspended particles measuring less than 2.5 or 10 microns in diameter.

Data for PM2.5 pollution is shown in the interactive visualization; data for PM10 pollution is not available, and is not shown here.

Provide access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces

Strong national and regional development planning

Urban and regional planning

This indicator is measured by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the United Nations Population Fund, through the evaluation of official documents on national urban policies and regional development plans. Data for this indicator is shown in the interactive visualization.

As an example, "responding to population dynamics" would mean that urban policies or regional development plans will be suited to - and will factor in future changes - in demographics such as age, sex ratio, household size, mobility, and migration.

Goal: "Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning" by 2030.

Implement policies for inclusion, resource efficiency and disaster risk reduction

Integrated disaster risk management

This indicator identifies countries who have and have not adopted and implemented disaster risk management strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 is an international agreement that aims to strengthen disaster preparedness in order to reduce risk and losses from disasters. Although the indicator definition is framed in terms of the number of countries adopting national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework, the United Nations tracks this measure in terms of country levels of implementation.

The interactive visualization here shows levels of country implementation, on a scale from 0 to 1 (where the higher score, the more policies have been implemented). It's based on an average score from 10 sub-indicators that collectively reflect progress towards implementation of the Sendai Framework.

Local disaster risk management

In this context, "local governments" refers to sub-national administrative bodies that have responsibility for developing disaster risk reduction strategies.

The interactive visualization shows the share of local administrations that have adopted disaster risk reduction strategies in line with a country's national strategy.

Support least developed countries in sustainable and resilient building

[Under development]

Definition of the SDG indicator: This indicator is currently under development, as per the UN SDG framework.

Goal: "Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials" by 2030.

Cite this work

Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. This topic page can be cited as:

Our World in Data team (2023) - "Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/sdgs/sustainable-cities' [Online Resource]

BibTeX citation

@article{owid-sdgs-sustainable-cities, author = {Our World in Data team}, title = {Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable}, journal = {Our World in Data}, year = {2023}, note = {https://ourworldindata.org/sdgs/sustainable-cities} }

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Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

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Sustainable Development Goals Tracker for SDG 11

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United States Environmental Protection Agency

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Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions - The Global Goals

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Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

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Sustainable Development: Goal 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions

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The United Nations member states have defined 17 sustainable development goals for 2030.
Goal 16 concerns peace, justice and strong institutions. One aim is to promote the advent of peaceful societies.

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Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world's leading measure of global peacefulness. This report presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies. The GPI covers 99.7% of the world's population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace across three domains:

- the level of Societal Safety and Security,

- the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict,

- and the degree of Militarisation.

This year's results show that the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.07%.

This is the ninth deterioration in peacefulness in the last thirteen years, with 87 countries improving, and 73 recording deteriorations; however, the change in score is the second smallest in the history of the index.

The 2021 GPI reveals a world in which the conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade have begun to abate, only to be replaced with a new wave of tension and uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising tensions between many of the major powers.

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Global Peace Index Map " The Most & Least Peaceful Countries

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Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world's leading measure of global peacefulness. This report presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies.

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(Original article: Global Partnership for Education, July 12, 2015)

In September 2015 the United Nations committed to the new Sustainable Development Goals, which succeed the Millennium Development Goals. The SDGs outline a new and ambitious worldwide effort to reduce poverty and hunger, improve health, enable equality, protect the planet and much more. Real progress will be elusive unless all children receive a quality education.
View and download data cards on the way education influences all sustainable development goals. Education and the Global Goals Infographic
#1 No Poverty
End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
Education is the one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty.
According to UNESCO, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty - a 12% drop in global poverty - if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills.

UNESCO also found that one extra year of schooling increases an individual's earnings by up to 10%, and each additional year of schooling raises average annual gross domestic product by 0.37%.

#2 No Hunger
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
There's strong evidence that a mother's education improves her children's nutrition, especially as she seeks higher levels of schooling.
The most recent UNESCO research in 2013 shows that there are approximately 47 million children in low-income countries who are stunted as a result of malnutrition in early childhood. If all mothers in those countries had a primary education, 1.7 million children would be saved from stunting. If those mothers had a secondary education, 12.2 million children would be saved from stunting.

#3 Good Health
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Better educated people are much less vulnerable to health risks.
When mothers in particular are educated, even at the most primary level, they are more likely to be well informed about various diseases and take steps to prevent them. UNESCO reports that each extra year of a mother's schooling reduces the probability of infant mortality by as much as 10% and that a child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live past age five. A study in the journal Lancet also showed that four million child deaths have been prevented over the past four decades thanks to the global increase in women's education.

#4. Quality Education
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Education builds on itself, creating greater capacity to educate others and nurture a culture that values learning.
Education equips learners of all ages with the skills and values needed to be responsible global citizens, such as respect for human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainability. Investing in and strengthening a country's education sector is key to the development of any country and its people. Without investment in quality education, progress on all other development indicators will stagnate. The Global Partnership for Education works to ensure that all children irrespective of where they live get a quality education, prioritizing the most vulnerable.

#5. Gender Equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Education enables girls and women to reach their full potential - in parity with men and boys - in their homes, communities, workplaces and institutions of influence.
One additional school year can increase a woman's earnings by up to 20%, according to World Bank studies, and Plan International has shown that some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls at the same level as boys. We also know that as the gap between the number of girls and boys narrows, so, too, do gender disparities in wages and employment.

#6 Clean Water and Sanitation
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
As communities become better educated about the links between their sanitation and health they see substantial improvements in sanitation. And, as societies become more economically prosperous, it stands to reason that they will be better able to create modern water and sanitation facilities and systems.
In many societies, girls can spend as many as 15 hours per week fetching water for their families, leave no time for school, UNESCO reports. Similarly, without access to safe sanitation, there are many more sick children who will miss school. In Ethiopia, 6.8 million people gained access to improved sanitation from 1990 to 2006. This was partly the result of having educated communities about the links between sanitation and health, and of implementing new, affordable technologies.

#7 Clean Energy
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Like education, clean and accessible energy is an essential building block of a country's social, economic and environmental development.
Experience suggests that educated citizens will likely be more inclined to recognize and adopt new practices and technologies that will help them and their communities prosper. And, with education, those citizens will be positioned to build and maintain energy infrastructures that will sustain their countries for a long time to come.

#8 Good Jobs and Economic Growth
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Education is one of the strongest drivers of economic progress and prosperity. Studies have shown that each additional year of schooling raises average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.37%.

The Education for All Global Monitoring Report showed that, in 1965, adults in East Asia and the Pacific had, on average, spent 2.7 more years in school than those in sub-Saharan Africa. Over a 45-year period, average annual growth in income per capita was 3.4% in East Asia and the Pacific, but 0.8% in sub-Saharan Africa. The difference in education levels explains about half of the difference in growth.

#9 Infrastructure
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
With education, countries have greater capacity to assemble and maintain the physical building blocks of progress, health and security.
As a country's inhabitants become better educated, they will be more likely to acquire their own critical technical skills and creative problem solving necessary to build and sustain roads and bridges, ICT systems, ports and airports, health and financial systems, governance practices and the many other structures that enable life in a country to improve and flourish. Well-planned and operating infrastructure itself enables more children to get the educational opportunities they need. Better infrastructure makes it possible for children - particularly in remote areas that have few developed roads or other reliable means of transportation - to get to school conveniently and quickly.

#10 Inequalities
Reduce inequality within and among countries.
As more children, from across the demographic, geographic and cultural spectrum become educated, we are likely to see an improvement in a country's income inequality.
One study showed that a 0.1% improvement in a country's education equality can, over forty years, raise its per capita income by 23% higher.

Research demonstrates that with more education equality, Vietnam's economic performance improved and, in 2005, its GDP surpassed Pakistan's, where education equality levels are half those of Vietnam's.

And, with better education, people from traditionally disadvantaged communities are better positioned to advocate for their own rights and needs, gain entry into higher echelons of economic, social and civic life and help narrow gaps of inequality across their societies.

#11 Sustainable cities and communities
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
With education, people are more likely than not to understand, support and craft creative solutions that ensure the basic ingredients of sustainable cities and communities are in place.
Good urban planning, efficient energy use, good water and sanitation management, social inclusion and other elements of well-working communities require people with knowledge and skills that are only available through quality education. At the heart of a World Bank Sustainable Cities Initiative, for example, are awareness-building programs, development and implementation of local diagnostic tools, the creation of policy reforms and other tasks that require not just primary but advanced education.

#12 Responsible Consumption
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Education raises the odds that people will use energy and water more efficiently and recycle household waste, according to UNESCO
A study of Ethiopia showed that, six years of education improve by 20% the chance that a farmer will address climate change by adopting techniques such as soil conservation, variation in planting dates and changes in crop varieties.

Another study showed that for each additional year of education that a head of household received, a society is between 4% and 21.5% less likely on an annual basis to cut old-growth forest per household. Also, in developing countries, research points out that there is an improvement in awareness of energy-efficient technologies with increasing education.

#13, 14 and 15

Protect the Planet - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Life below water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Life on land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
With higher levels of education, people across many different societies show greater concern about the well-being of the environment.
In 29 countries, 25% of people with less than a secondary education expressed concern for the environment compared to 37% of people with secondary education and 46% of people with tertiary education, research shows.

Also, environmental education programs have been responsible for important advances in many national and regional efforts to fight climate change and protect aquatic life and terrestrial ecosystems. But that kind of education can only reach its full potential where a critical mass of a country's or region's inhabitants have foundational learning skills that come with primary and secondary education.
Education is an essential precursor to peace, tolerance and a healthy civil society.
#16 Peace and justice
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Studies have shown that people with secondary educations are more likely than those with only primary education to show tolerance for people who speak another language (a 21% difference in Latin America and 34% among Arab States), immigrants (26% and 16%, respectively), homosexuals (32 and 1%), people of a different religion (39% and 14%), people with HIV (45% and 12%) and people of a different race (47% and 28%).

We also know that literate people are more likely to participate in the democratic process and exercise their civil rights, and that, if the enrollment rate for secondary schooling is 10 percentage points higher than the average, the risk of war is reduced by about three percentage points.
Partnerships are proven to be a most effective way to achieve strong development outcomes.
#17 Partnerships for the goals
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

The Global Partnership for Education is a prominent example of how working in a collaborative partnership can enhance progress in education and in the other development sectors. The partnership model of the Global Partnership for Education mobilizes and aligns donor financing behind national education plans that are based on needs assessments and evidence- based policy making.

It coordinates the work of all internal and external actors that play a role in that process. When the most important players work together, we see greater efficiencies and impacts with the available resources. And we see real progress in countries that are hungry to bring quality education to their children and move ever closer to the global goal of education for all.

As the U.N. High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 Development Agenda declared in 2013, "The Global Partnership for Education is getting quality education to marginalized children, coordinating education's many players, offering aid without wasteful replication and following local leadership. GPE is single-sector [education] but shows how collaboration can bring better results. Similar models might prove useful in other areas."

( Go to original article)

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17 ways education influences the UN sustainable development goals

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In September 2015 the United Nations committed to the new Sustainable Development Goals, which succeed the Millennium Development Goals. The SDGs outline a new and ambitious worldwide effort to reduce poverty and hunger, improve health, enable equality, protect the planet and much more. Real progress will be elusive unless all children receive a quality education.