Youth leaders want SDGs translated into local languages

Youth leaders in the East African Community (EAC) have tasked the United Nations and their respective governments to popularise the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among the young populations by translating them into local languages.

They want the UN to reach out to the youth living both in urban and rural settings to tickle them into taking active participation in the implementation of the goals.

They expressed concern that three years since 2015 when the UN General Assembly agreed on the 17 goals, which were part of the Resolution 70/1, nothing much seems to be visible that majority of the populations in the EAC region, including members of parliament and University graduates are not bothered because they do not understand these goals.

The over 150 youth leaders and volunteers from the six EAC partner states and observers were reacting to a presentation by

Natalie Boucly, UNDP Deputy Country Director  in Tanzania, during the second day of the Youth Leadership Summit 2018.

The five-day summit, organised by the EAC secretariat and funded by the Germany Development Cooperation (GIZ) took place at MS Training Center for Development Cooperation in Arumeru district near Arusha in Tanzania under the theme,  "National Youth Trends in Political and Economic Inclusion: Key asks (demands) for effective youth participation in EAC Integration priorities and process."

Boucly, who presented a topic, Youth and Agenda 2030: Framework and opportunities for national and regional youth participation in SDGs received a lot of reactions from youth across the region who included young entrepreneurs and civil society activists.

 

Natalie Boucly, UNDP Deputy Country Director Tanzania exchanging ideas with the youth at the YouLead Summit 2018 at Arumeru in Tanzania, Nov 20, 2018.

They stated that it was a big challenge to achieve the goals when the majority of people do not have information about them, adding that the UN skipped the matter of translating the goals into languages that majority of people understand.   

They also asked the UN to penalize countries whose leaders assent to the pacts but fail to implement them, saying that although one of the goals includes a commitment by countries to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and address climate change, few had even laid strategies to tackle them.

The UN director, however, regretted the matter and said she would take this to the SDG mission at the UN, saying it was an important point raised by the leaders, which they did not have realized.

She said explained that all the 194 countries made commitments to prioritize SDGs but in a localized setting because not all the goals apply to all in the same way.

"But it is everybody's task, including the private sector and civil society organizations, to play a role to ensure we achieve these goals, she said, adding that all governments committed to voluntarily submit a report to UN General Assembly every after four years on their progress in pushing the goals.

She noted that there was an urgent need for the EAC government to move from policy to action but urged the youth to help in pushing the different stakeholders to be accountable, adding that opportunities would not come down to them unless they position themselves.  

"Every little help, your input is as important as that of everyone else, SDGS are tailored for all countries but every country is different and trying their best to achieve their goals in a different way because they face unique conditions," she stated, adding that people have to do their part.

According to Boucly, the UN was trying to send a mainstreaming acceleration and policy support to all member states in the implementation and coordination of SDGs through organisations that give a platform to the youth.

Said all UN agencies endeavour to provide the framework where young entrepreneurs benefit from sponsorships, but explained that it was not ‘a one-fits-all' agenda, but each country needed to prioritize SDGs according to the local environment and strengthen coordination.

Kenneth Wabuteya from Uganda, however, said through the Uganda NGO Forum, they had embarked on trying to localize the SDGs into local languages through issuing out leaflets with Luganda translated versions of SDGs.  

"I believe the SDGs are achievable, it begins with us as individual citizens of each respective country to own up and maximize on our space to make this happen," he said adding that by 2021 Uganda is expected to submit its first report to the UN General Assembly.