By Anglina Clapp, JMU ’20, Political Science
The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 related goals created by the United Nations in 2015. The goals, intended to be met by the year 2030, are designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sustainable development, as formulated at the United Nations Rio Earth Summit in 1992, is ethics in action, resulting in equity as the way to peace and sustainability. It requires supporting the healthy ecosystems and biodiversity that underpin all thriving communities.
Sustainable Development Goal: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (Goal 16)
Institutions around the world are working to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Background Information
Some of the greatest threats to sustainable development around the world are conflict, insecurity, weak institutions and limited access to justice. In 2019 alone, there were over 79.5 million people in the world fleeing war, persecution and conflict. Institutions that are most threatened by corruption are the judiciary system and police forces. This exacerbates human rights abuses in nations and can lead to false imprisonments, inequitable laws, and the increased imprisonment of political figures and journalists. Between 2015 and 2019, there were 1,940 killings and 106 enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists across 81 countries.
A functioning, equitable and non-corrupt justice system must be used to settle disputes by implementing equitable laws that do not target specific groups of people. To exclude and discriminate against certain groups of people only causes an increase of animosity towards others and could in turn cause more violence. The rule of law and development are mutually reinforcing, they are essential elements for sustainable development at the national and international level. Lack of access to justice in a society ensures that conflicts remain unresolved. Institutions that are corrupt and cannot function according to laws exacerbate violence and in turn cannot deliver their citizens with public services. Armed violence, insecurity, and continued conflict negatively impact children’s health, development, and well-being which can cause the loss of generations. This cycle hinders sustainable development in societies. Governments, societies, and communities must work together and implement solutions to reduce violence, deliver justice, combat corruption and ensure inclusive participation.
Violence Against Children
Violence against children hinders sustainable development because it shows that governments cannot protect their most vulnerable part of the population and it has the potential to wipe out generations. Violence against children impacts more than one billion children around the world and costs societies $7 trillion a year. Every five minutes, somewhere in the world a child is killed by violence. Governments must strive for strong institutions in order to protect their children.
COVID-19
The protection and promotion of human rights must be prioritized in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries around the world had to adopt extraordinary measures in order to slow the spread of the virus. Enforced lockdowns restrict the freedom of movement of people and in turn can inadvertently limit their access to other human rights. They can also limit people’s access to their health care, food, water, sanitation, work, education and leisure activities.
The pandemic is spiraling into a combined economic, social, health, and human rights crisis. According to the United Nations, the three main human rights that are at the frontline of the pandemic are the right to life and the duty to protect life, the right to health, and access to health care and freedom of movement. Invoking the right to life reminds states that they have a duty to protect the lives of their citizens, not just during a pandemic but all of the time. In addition to this, every human is entitled to the highest attainable standard of health so that they can live a life in dignity. The current pandemic shows many shortfalls in achieving this, and nations must do more to ensure that their citizens have access to healthcare in order to live a dignified life. Finally, the challenge to freedom of movement is directly related to controlling the spread of the virus. Restrictions on freedom of movement must be only for the reasons of controlling the virus and should be proportionate and non-discriminatory. The UN Secretary General called on all nations to ensure that their COVID-19 response was “legal, proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory,” and called for a global cease-fire.
Additional Facts and Figures
- Before COVID-19, 100 civilians were killed in armed conflict everyday, despite protections under international law. COVID-19 further threatens global peace and security.
- 127 countries have adopted right-to-information or freedom-of-information laws
- 60% of countries in the world have prison overcrowding, risking the spread of COVID-19
- Women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately represented in conflict settings. For instance, according to the December 2019 Humanitarian Needs Assessment in the Syrian Arab Republic, 28 per cent of all displaced women in Syria were women with disabilities.
- In 2019, the United Nations documented 2,838 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, of which 96 per cent targeted women and girls.
- In 2019, acute hunger increased to 135 million people, of which 60 percent live in conflict/insecurity countries.
- In certain conflict-affected or fragile states, maternal mortality is alarmingly high, though the ratio worldwide dropped by 38 per cent since 2000 (from 342 to 211 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births). The maternal mortality has worsened in Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela in recent years.
- Fragile States Index
- Global Peace Index
- Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related deaths everywhere
- End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and the torture of children
- Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
- By 2030, significantly reduce illicit finances and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime
- Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
- Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels
- Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels
- Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance
- By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration
- Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements
- Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime
- Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development
Take Action
- Exercise your right to hold your elected officials accountable by participating in elections. (Resource for U.S. citizens on our website here.)
- Exercise your right to freedom of information. (See our information literacy resource here.)
- Express your opinion to your elected officials by writing or calling them on issues you care about.
- Ask your elected officials to support the Sustainable Development Goals and advocate for the United States to participate and help achieve them.
- If you are able to, donate to organizations that support achieving Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. (See this directory from GuideStar.)
- Promote inclusion and respect towards people of different ethnic origins, religions, gender, sexual orientations and different opinions.
- Look into these resources from the United Nations: The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World, The UN Campaign for Individual Action, the UN’s Be the Change Initiative
Discussion Questions
- How do peace, justice and strong institutions within and among nations contribute to sustainable development?
- What actions can you take to promote peace and justice in your daily life?
- How can JMU contribute to building a more sustainable, peaceful and just world?
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