'Why do the Global Goals matter to me?'

Why should I care anyway? 

So, a commonly asked question when I explain to other young people about my work and about the Accountability Advocates is 'Why are you doing this now? Why do a degree AND all of this work?'. Why am I juggling a degree and this advocacy work and life in general when I literally have YEARS ahead of me to 'get myself out there'


That's all this position is to a lot of people I talk to. A really great opportunity for me to add something impressive sounding onto my CV. The Sustainable Development Goals, the Big Idea, all of the thousands of hours which have been poured into creating these 17 potentially world changing goals have all cumulated into a bullet point on a 19-year old girls' CV.

Here's why that's wrong.

1. The Global Goals are attempting something that has never been done before. All countries around the world (Including us, Mr Cameron) now have an obligation to make sure that the Goals are carried out. Think that FGM (female genital mutilation) isn't a problem in the UK? Tell that to the 137,000 women and girls that are affected by FGM in England and Wales. 

Poverty? Here? In the global north?? In 2013, 3.8 million households in the US  were unable to provide adequate nutrition for their children. National Geographic ran an article in 2014 called 'The New Face of Hunger' , with the opening paragraph of:

         Millions of working Americans don’t      know where their next meal is coming from. We sent three photographers to explore hunger in three very different parts of the United States, each giving different faces to the same statistic: One-sixth of Americans don’t have enough food to eat.

Does this sound like the kind of world where MDCs (more developed countries, to use a Geographical term) can afford to ignore the Global Goals? 

2. Contrary to popular belief, under-25s are believed to be the most politically active generation yet . 

 It is easy for my generation to admit defeat in more 'white-middle-aged-man' areas of life such as politics, development or even commenting on world affairs. It is even easier for older generations to dismiss our views as irrelevant, because we haven't experienced as much, or because young=liberal=idealistic=irrelevant.

I have as much validity and legitimacy as any other person commenting or analysing world events. I have as much right to constantly work towards a better world through my Accountability Advocates work as the next person. And that person also has a right to write a blog similar to mine, with maybe completely different views on things.

But, in my opinion, with rights and validity come responsibilities. 

If I have the right to be involved in world politics and the Global Goals, then I surely also have the responsibility to make sure I take advantage of that opportunity and make as much of a positive difference as humanly possible.

So, in answer to the question at the beginning of my blog: I'm doing a degree. Great. My academic life is not my entire life. For me, my degree does not mean that for the next 3 years I put everything else on hold. Why do I work as an Accountability Advocate as well as being at university? 

Put simply, it is because I can.

Thanks for reading, please put any comments or criticisms or suggestions in the comments section.

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing, and if you too are passionate about something, for gods sake fulfil it. 

Raf :)