On Sept. 25, 2015, world leaders came together and adopted a set of 17 goals to end poverty, fight injustice and inequality, and fix climate change by 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the most ambitious goals ever set toward achieving a healthy, equitable world for all. Yet for this shared, global, to-do list to get done, everyone has to do their part.
Which is why Global Citizen is regularly checking progress and calling to account those lagging behind. The following short video is one of those check-ins, listing out who is doing their part and who is not on the path to achieving the SDGs. The film underlines the great work of countries like Germany who have taken in over million asylum seekers in the past year. Leading the list of laggards amongst OECD nations is most certainly Switzerland. It’s shown a very poor performance from not only one of the richest countries in the world but also one of the healthiest.
Amid the worst refugee crisis since WWII, Switzerland slashed its foreign aid budget by $100 million last year. According to a report compiled by Swiss development organizations, the main criticism levelled at Switzerland in keeping up with the SDG agenda “is the lack of resources for systematic implementation.” In other words, Switzerland needs to front up some cash to stay on track. So to governments heads of Switzerland we say:
Every single country, not just Switzerland, has a critical role to play in seeing the end of poverty. It’s up to Global citizens everywhere to hold their world leaders to account, to ensure no one is left behind.