GATINEAU, QC, Feb. 17, 2021 /CNW/ - The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an ambitious call to action. Its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure all people are able to live in peace and prosperity. This shared responsibility calls for closer cooperation between governments, civil society, and the private sector.
Today, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, and the Minister of International Development Karina Gould, launched Moving Forward Together – Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy, an important milestone in continuing to implement the 2030 Agenda and make progress on the SDGs in Canada and abroad.
The strategy promotes a whole-of-society approach to achieving the SDGs. It builds on the 30 actions and five core principles outlined in Towards Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy, and feedback from in-person and online consultations and outreach across Canada.
To support the strategy's whole-of-society approach, Minister Hussen also announced approximately $11.3 million in funding to 32 organizations through the 2020-2021 Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program. Through this program, the Government of Canada is supporting the work of not-for-profit organizations, provinces and territories, municipalities, academia, the private sector, and members of Indigenous and racialized communities to make progress on the SDGs.
Strengthened by a commitment to leave no one behind, Moving Forward Together – Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy will help build a Canada that is stronger, fairer, and more equitable for everyone.
For questions or additional information on Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy contact [email protected]
Quotes
"Moving Forward Together – Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy helps advance a whole-of-society effort to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. By fostering partnerships and collaboration on a range of issues including equality, poverty reduction, and affordable housing, together, we can build a more prosperous, healthy and sustainable future for all."
– Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen
"The Sustainable Development Goals lay out a path for us, past the global pandemic, towards a healthier, more prosperous and inclusive world. While the goals are ambitious, they remain our road map to a brighter future for everyone."
– Minister of International Development, Karina Gould
Quick Facts
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a 15-year global framework adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that encompass the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
- In Budget 2018, the Government of Canada announced up to $59.8 million in funding over 13 years ($4.6 million annually), starting in 2018-2019, for programming to support Canada's implementation of the SDGs, build new partnerships and networks to catalyze action on the 2030 Agenda, and raise public awareness.
- To date, the SDG Funding Program is supporting 88 organizations, for a total of approximately $17 million.
Backgrounder: MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER – CANADA'S 2030 AGENDA NATIONAL STATEGY
Moving Forward Together – Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a shared responsibility that requires a whole–of–society approach. Meaningful multi–stakeholder partnerships are fundamental to achieving the SDGs. Moving Forward Together – Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy aims to create and foster an enabling environment for ongoing participation, dialogue, and whole-of-society collaboration to help advance progress.
To create this environment, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), together with other government departments, is leveraging new and existing opportunities to engage with all levels of government, Indigenous organizations, civil society, academia, and the private sector to develop mechanisms for ongoing collaboration on five core elements:
- Enhancing leadership, governance and policy coherence
- Raising awareness, engagement and communications
- Ensuring accountability, transparency and reporting
- Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples
- Investing in the SDGs
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda is a 15-year global framework that was adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. At its heart are the 17 SDGs that encompass the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda envisions a secure world, free of poverty and hunger, with full and productive employment, access to quality education and universal health coverage, the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and an end to environmental degradation.
The 2030 Agenda is a universal call to action for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. It integrates the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, as well as peace, governance and justice issues.
Canada and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The Government of Canada supports the common vision and ambition of the 2030 Agenda, and is committed to working with its domestic and international partners to build a more peaceful, inclusive and prosperous world that leaves no one behind.
Many of Canada's domestic and international priorities, policies and programming support progress on the SDGs: reducing poverty, building sustainable economic growth, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and taking action on climate change, clean energy, and protecting ocean ecosystems.
In Budget 2018, the Government of Canada committed new funding over 13 years:
- $49.4 million to establish a Sustainable Development Goals Unit (SDG Unit) within ESDC and fund monitoring and reporting by Statistics Canada to effectively measure progress
- $59.8 million ($4.6 million annually) for an Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program (SDG Funding Program) to support the government's commitment to deliver on a whole-of-society approach to the implementation of the SDGs in Canada.
In July 2018, the Government of Canada presented its first Voluntary National Review report at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York, highlighting how Canada is taking stock of its progress and charting a path forward.
In June 2019, the Government of Canada released Towards Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy, the result of nationwide in-person and online consultations. This document was a first step toward establishing the structures, processes and activities that need to be in place to move the 2030 Agenda forward in a coordinated, transparent and accountable manner.
Towards Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy also established the foundations for the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) to accurately report on progress on the SDGs in a Canadian context. This Framework is intended to complement the Global Indicator Framework (GIF), used to track and report progress internationally.
The Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program (SDG Funding Program)
The SDG Funding Program is a grants and contributions program that seeks to increase public awareness of the SDGs, support new partnerships to advance action, and identify and implement innovative initiatives to drive progress on the SDGs. Through the Program, the Government is supporting the work of stakeholders, including not-for-profit organizations, provinces and territories, municipalities, academia, the private sector, Indigenous peoples, women, youth and vulnerable populations.
To date, the SDG Funding Program is supporting 88 organizations, for a total of approximately $17 million.
The SDG Funding Program also provided funding to three National Indigenous Organizations to support engagement on the 2030 Agenda. The Program committed a total of $2.7 million to the Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami over a 3-year period (2020-2023).
Recipients of the 2020-2021 SDG Funding Program include:
2020-21 SDG Funding Program Grant Recipients
- Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS)
- Canada Without Poverty
- Equitas - International Centre for Human Rights Education
- John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC)
- Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters
- The Apathy is Boring Project
- Governors of Saint-Francis Xavier University
- Sir Sandford Fleming College Applied Arts and Technology
- Kids Code Jeunesse
- Volunteer Canada
- Climatable Association
- Future Earth
- Conseil de la coopération de l'Ontario
- Atlantic Council for International Cooperation
- Vancouver Island University
- Youth Climate Lab
- Université du Québec en Outaouais
- Shorefast
- University of Winnipeg
- Impak Finance Inc
- K'ahsho Got'ine Self-Government Negotiations
2020-21 SDG Funding Program Contribution Recipients
- Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement (TICE)
- Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation in Ontario
- 10 Carden Shared Space
- Université Laval
- Food Secure Canada
- Engage Nova Scotia
- Ulnooweg Development Group Inc.
- Concordia University
- Family Service Toronto
- Mothers Matter Center
- Canadian Centre on Disability Studies Incorporated
Associated Links
- Moving Forward Together – Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy
- Canada takes action on the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development
- SDG Data Hub
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
For media enquiries, please contact: Mikaela Harrison, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
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