Review the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, then evaluate the following
statement by Katja Iversen, CEO of Women Deliver: “The SDGs are not a menu, they are
a roadmap. We need to ask ourselves: Who can we do this with, and who does this affect?”
Discuss the difference between a roadmap and menu in reference to the SDGs and why a
roadmap analogy makes more sense. In your response, reference at least two different
goals between Goals 4 and 17 that are connected to health. Additionally, identify two key
targets for reaching Goal 3 and why you think these are critical. Discuss two actions you
could take to help make progress toward reaching the SDGs as a global society. Refer to
the United Nations’ “The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World” in the Topic
Materials.
Sustainable Development Goals
In reference to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a roadmap refers to a strategic
plan used to define a real goal. A roadmap includes milestones and significant steps required to
achieve a goal. Conversely, a menu refers to a list of items and, in this case, a list of the
Sustainable Development Goals without specific strategies for achieving them. SGDs are a
roadmap and not a menu, as stated by Katia Iversen, CEO of Women Deliver. Actions need to be
taken on the goals for them to be productive or useful. The roadmap analogy makes more sense
because SDGs are milestones that also require steps for them to be impactful.
For instance, Goal 6 is about clean water and sanitation. It aims to ensure the availability
and sustainable management of water sanitation for everyone in the world. This is a roadmap
because, for it to be implemented, it requires actions and strategies. Some of such policies may
include encouraging local communities’ participation in water and sanitation management
(Sustainable Development Goals, 2020). This goal is related to health because clean water
improves hygiene and reduces the chances of getting water-borne diseases such as cholera.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2
Another goal connected to health is Goal #4 that is about the provision of quality education.
Some targets of this goal include ensuring that everyone has a chance to be educated regardless
of their gender or physical ability. This also includes health education, such as disease
prevention.
Goal #3 is good health and well-being. One of the critical targets for reaching this goal is
to strengthen the treatment and prevention of substance abuse, including the harmful use of
alcohol and drug abuse (Sustainable Development Goals, 2020). Another target is to end the
epidemics such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV by 2030.
One of the actions I would take to help make progress toward reaching SDGs as a global society
is taking short showers as a way of saving water. This will help in promoting the goal of clean
water for all. Bathtubs use more water and are therefore wasteful. Another action I can take to
conserve water is to avoid rinsing utensils before running the dishwater machine.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 3
References
Sustainable Development Goals. (2020). The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to
transform our world.