Tick tock. Life is a game of time and we’re always on the countdown to something. Right now the world is 10 weeks away from the unveiling of the new Global Goals in New York. An opportunity of this scale last came around 15 years ago, and we’re set to have to wait another 15 years for the next. In the last 3 weeks alone citizens in over 150 countries have raised their voices in support of a better future for people and planet. Millions of citizens are proving that no timeframe is too tight when the stakes are as high as what we have on our hands right now – the chance to make progress on inequality, poverty and climate change.
15 years.
15 years ago global leaders were on the cusp of agreeing on the then little-known Millennium Development Goals. 15 years down the line and we’ve made unbelievable progress on previously insurmountable global challenges – from huge reductions in poverty to cutting child deaths and getting more children than ever before into school. This has laid good solid foundations for continued progress with the next Global Goals.
In the next 15 years we can genuinely finish the job the MDGs started. We can end preventable child deaths, give every child an education, provide every citizen with access to quality healthcare. To do this we need the Global Goals to not only be hugely ambitious in their content, but we need world leaders to commit to turning them into a reality with policy and budget. Moreover we need citizens everywhere to commit to relentlessly hold leaders to account on their promises in the critical period of accountability ahead. Easily done in 10 weeks, huh?!
10 weeks.
10 weeks doesn’t seem very long, does it? It’s just the average length of a school term or the time at it takes for an unborn baby to grow to the size of a kumquat. But if you turn those around – 10 weeks is also the amount of time in which a child can pick up the vital phonetics on which literacy is rooted. Or the amount of time it takes for a baby in its mother’s womb to start swallowing and kicking. Experts also suggest that it was a critical period of 10 weeks that saw the global humanitarian community turn around the global fight on Ebola earlier this year.
Like any amount of time, 10 weeks is what you make of it – and citizens in over 150 countries around the world are united by our belief that the next 10 weeks could be a period of time which in years to come people look back at and say ‘that’s was when we turned the tables on inexorable poverty, inequality and climate change.’
3 weeks. 150 countries. Millions of citizens. 1 campaign.
In the past 3 weeks millions of actions have taken by citizens in over 150 countries in support of a better future for people and planet as part of the action/2015 campaign. With the launch of action/1D, millions of One Direction fans around the world have already shared their inspiring visions for the future of the world. Meanwhile on a single day of citizen action hundreds of thousands of citizens in 90 countries took to the streets and social media to raise the importance of financing the Global Goals. This has been a hugely diverse wave of citizen action and is set to continue to the end of the year.
Don’t let time get the better of people and planet.
It’s all too often that we use time as an excuse – it slips through our fingers, it runs out and we just don’t get ‘around to it’. But the next 10 weeks cannot and will not be business as usual. This is an extraordinary time, we have an amazing opportunity, and citizens everywhere are raising their voice to make sure we seize this once in a lifetime opportunity. By joining action/2015 campaigners in the next 10 weeks you will be able to make the most of the time. Visit us, follow us and like us to join us.
Author: Iona Lawrence