Sustainable Development Goals

Maintaining our health and quality of life is important to each of us and important to all of us as a society. While this issue has been brought into stark relief globally with the COVID-19 pandemic, across the world, for centuries, people have battled everything from outbreaks of infectious diseases to chronic health problems. The third of United Nations Sustainable Development goals is focused specifically on the aim of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being in people of all ages.

The world is becoming increasingly urbanised, and the population is constantly growing. Today, more than half of us live in cities, placing them at the forefront of some of our biggest challenges — from public health to climate change.  

Inequalities, based on issues such as gender, disability, age, race, income and opportunity, persist across the world — both within and between countries. Beyond the very real impacts that inequalities have on people’s day to day lives, they limit social and economic development, and reduce our ability to effectively address global crises. 

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. UN Sustainable Development Goals can can only be met through collaboration. Investments and support is needed to ensure innovative technological development, fair trade and market access is achieved.

There is no country in the world that is not seeing first-hand the drastic effects of climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and are now more than 50 percent higher than their 1990 level. Further, global warming is causing long-lasting changes to our climate system, which threatens irreversible consequences if we do not take action now.

SDG 16 aims to build strong and just institutions in support of peaceful and inclusive societies around the world by 2030. It promotes the rule of law, transparency, accountability, good governance, and ensuring equal access to justice and strengthening human rights.