Sustainable Development Goals Essay

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The United Nations recently published a list of goals they hope to accomplish by 2030 called the Sustainable Development Goals. These goals will replace the Millennium Development Goals, which were set in 2000, when they expire at the end of 2015. Some of these goals include ending poverty, promoting gender equality, and improving water and sanitation conditions. Arguably, the most important goal is to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” (in text citation- NY Times Article). Hunger was also an important goal on the MDG list, yet it was not fully accomplished (in text citation- Progress chart). The goals was to reduce hunger by half, and yet, the number of people who go to bed hungry …show more content…

Some of the goals are doing well, such as primary schooling. However the “reducing hunger by half” goal is not. The chart shows that two regions of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, have high hunger with only fair progress. The rest of the regions they included have moderate hunger with very little progress. This proves that the methods used to accomplish the MDGs were ineffective and insufficient (in text citation- progress chart). The fact that the Sustainable Development Goal pertaining to hunger includes food security, nutrition, and agriculture is an achievement in itself because “it acknowledges the crucial role played by food-based approaches to nutrition” (in text citation- Goal 2). Improvements in agriculture can ultimately lead to ending hunger because people will have access to more nutritious foods and farmers will be able to produce more food. The UN said the purpose of the Millennium Development Goals was “to shape a broad vision to fight poverty and combat numerous issues hampering development progress” (in text citation- chart). This claim is contradicting because the only goal regarding hunger was to reduce it by half. Perhaps one of the reasons this goal wasn’t fully accomplished was because the UN didn’t incorporate other components such as nutrition and agriculture into the Millennium …show more content…

This can not be done with the same ineffective tactics that were used in the past, so that’s why people are developing new ways to eradicate hunger. When the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) was held, they discussed the nutrition component and how important it is that it is not overlooked. By paying attention to nutrient-dense foods and recognizing the different entry points for improving nutrition, the ICN2 argues the world will be one step closer in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal. Some of the entry points they discussed include “the promotion of crop diversification…, strengthening local food production and processing, and exploring regulatory or voluntary instruments for promoting healthy diets” (goals 2). Promoting the nutrition aspect of the goal can help achieve it because nutrients are what keep people alive and

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