{"id":29221,"date":"2017-07-10T21:22:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T21:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=29221"},"modified":"2018-04-22T11:51:31","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T15:51:31","slug":"taking-action-for-sustainable-development-dominican-republic-sudan-switzerland-samoa-philippines-tanzania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2017\/07\/taking-action-for-sustainable-development-dominican-republic-sudan-switzerland-samoa-philippines-tanzania\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Action for Sustainable Development: Dominican Republic, Sudan, Switzerland, Samoa, Philippines, Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)\u2014a core feature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development\u2014focus on the three interconnected elements of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.<\/p>\n

As every country strives to achieve the SDGs, we need to transform the way we do things.\u00a0 <\/span>The world needs a new approach to address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice.<\/p>\n

Governments, businesses and civil society are taking bold actions to demonstrate their strong commitment to achieving the Goals and ensuring no one is left behind.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Dominican Republic<\/b><\/p>\n

In the Dominican Republic, since March 2015, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have been assisting the Ministry of Agriculture and its partners in implementing an integrated pest eradication campaign against Mediterranean fruit flies<\/a>, with the support of the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA (USDA-APHIS), the International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).<\/p>\n

Sudan<\/b><\/p>\n

In Sudan, supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a Drip Irrigation Project, which applies nuclear science and techniques, has been ongoing since 2015 in Kassala (eastern Sudan) to make the most of limited water supplies and to optimize fertilizer use in the area. Through the project, scientists from the Sudan Agricultural Research Cooperation (ARC) have been trained by experts from the Joint FAO\/IAEA Division. The scientists learned how to use nuclear and isotopic techniques to optimize soil, water, and fertilizer use for growing crops using the \u201cdrip irrigation<\/a>\u201d system. As a result of the training, the drip irrigation system has successfully led to the reduction of water use by up to 70 per cent, while increasing food yields by more than 40 per cent in the area.<\/p>\n

Switzerland<\/b><\/p>\n

In Switzerland, the United Nations Office at Geneva (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOG) launched the #YouNeedToKnow campaign<\/a>, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of the SDGs. It is an initiative of the Perception Change Project, led by the Office of the DirectorGeneral at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOG, in partnership with Dufry, a global retailer with shops in over sixty countries and a combined yearly traffic in their shops of 2.3 billion people.<\/p>\n

Samoa<\/b><\/p>\n

Communal culture in Samoa builds on the role of warriors. Today new types of warriors, young women and men are unearthing culinary traditions and incorporating more sustainable techniques in food production: they are better known as Organic Warriors. Developed by Women in Business Development Inc (WIBDI) as part of the SDG Fund joint programme in collaboration with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP, the \u201cOrganic Warriors Academy<\/a>\u201d seeks to equip unemployed youth with the knowledge and skills to cultivate their land into a profitable business.<\/p>\n

Philippines<\/b><\/p>\n

Although overall access to improved water source has significantly increased to 96 percent in 2013 in the Philippines, around 56.9 percent of households still do not treat their water (Ibid) and from among those who treat their water, only 35.2 per cent use appropriate treatment methods. The SDG Fund Joint Programme on PROWATER<\/a>\u2014 an initiative of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF, WHO, the Government of the Philippines and other partners\u2014seeks to empower citizens and communities by promoting the importance of sustainable safe water and sanitation services.<\/p>\n

Tanzania<\/b><\/p>\n

To reach people living below the food poverty line, the Government of Tanzania started a massive overhaul of its current national programme, the Tanzania Productive Social Safety Nets (PSSN)<\/a> in 2013. The programme allows pregnant woman and children under five of poor households to get health services for, as well access food and income. It has also resulted in increased school enrolment and attendance. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is supporting the initiative through a SDG Fund joint programme with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP, ILO, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

During the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, 44 countries, both developed and developing countries, are presenting their Voluntary National Reviews or plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 3-day ministerial meeting from 17-19 July.<\/p>\n

The 44 countries are: Afghanistan, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Monaco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

The programme and summaries of each country\u2019s actions and plans are available online at: https:\/\/sustainabledevelopment.un.org\/hlpf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t