This article is written by Amaani Jinadasa and edited by Rianne Doller
Icare sustainably International has organized 2 programs for the Sustainable Development Goals Global Week of Action. With the pandemic being around, we organized our programs to be online. You can find our pledge on the official website of the Global Week of Action here.
The first program is “SDG Webinar and Mini-Project Program” and the second is “SDG Post Contest”.
Table of Contents
1.1. Quick overview important dates for the 2 SDG projects:
- 1 September: Close sign up webinar
- 4 September: Webinar on the SDG & Mini-Project plan
- 17 – 26 September: Social Media Post Contest
- 18 t/m 26 September: Global Week of Action
- 27 September: Reveal winners post contest
- 28 September: Deadline project reports
- 8 October: Award ceremony and reveal mini-projects e-book
2. What is the #Act4SDGs global week of action?
Global Goals Week is the:
“Annual week of action, awareness, and accountability for sustainable development goals” (United Nations Foundation, 2021).
This year, the week is from 18th to 26th September. During this week partners across civil society, business, academia, and the UN system commit towards accelerating actions on SDGs. You can find information on the week on the website of Act4SDGs, the organizers.
3. Icare and GFSRD partners for the global week of action
For this project Icare partners with the Global Forum for Sustainable Rural Development (GFSRD). The GFSRD is a platform for Academicians, CBOs/ NGOs and Policy Makers. The GFSRD is formed with the aim to bring and link Rural Development Research, Policy and Practice in one umbrella and lead advocacy for Sustainable Rural Development globally.
SDG17 states that partnerships are vital to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Therefore, Icare is happy with the opportunity to partner with the Global Forum for Sustainable Development for this project.
3.1. SDG Webinar and Mini-Project Program
Icare will host a webinar explaining SDGs, importance of SDGs for youth leadership, how to conduct mini-projects covering an SDG reaping benefits to participant’s society and how to write project reports on the 4th of September. You can sign up for the webinar here: sign up.
Following the webinar, participants will select a project of their choice covering an SDG which they will conduct individually, in a group in household level, neighbourhood level, school/university level, or organizational level within 3 weeks. Icare will assign a mentor for each project to assist participants on how to conduct the project, how to fundraise, and how to write project reports.
All project reports will be collected on 28th September and will be featured in an e-book. All participants and their team members who successfully complete the projects will be awarded a certificate during the award ceremony on 8th October. The e-book containing all project reports will also be published during the award ceremony.
This program is intended to give all participants first-hand experience in managing charity projects. Also, the society will reap many benefits through the mini-projects conducted by participants, especially those close to participants. Seeing the participants conducting these projects will trigger a liking in peer groups and close contacts to conduct similar projects, creating a ripple effect.
3.2. SDG Post Contest
The SDG Post contest will be held during 17th to 26th September. Contesters will create social media posts or short videos of 30 seconds, which they will share on social media platforms. The post link and the name of participants should be submitted through the registration form to be eligible for the contest: registration form.
A team of judges from Icare and the GFSRD will select 2 posts – the best post and most popular post, and award certificates for the winners. Best post will be selected by the panel of judges based on the content of post or video. Most popular post is selected based on the engagement received for the post.
This project is aimed at popularizing SDGs within the community. We identified that many people lack knowledge on SDGs, and we hope to reach out to those people using the contest. Participants can educate themselves on SDGs by referring to videos and posts published on Icare’s social media channels.
Conclusion: Outcome of our projects for the global week of action, #Act4SDGs
We hope our projects for SDG week of action will contribute towards achieving SDGs during the pandemic where targets for global goals are slipped off track. These projects will also be of a motivation and a change for people living amidst lockdowns and travel restrictions to engage in a positive project.
Follow our social media for updates.