The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are bold commitments of the United Nations (UN) to finish what was star...
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are bold commitments of
the United Nations (UN) to finish what was started
in the year 2000,
by tackling some of the more pressing challenges facing
the world today. All 17 Goals interconnect, meaning success in one affects
success for others.
The SDGs are unique in that they cover issues that affect us
all. They reaffirm our international commitment to end poverty, permanently,
everywhere. They are ambitious in making sure no one is left behind. More
importantly, they involve us all to build a more sustainable, safer, more
prosperous planet for all humanity.
This write-up is on an innovative social enterprise and global partnership that
addresses several of the Sustainable Development Goals would be used to help the unemployed youths realize their full potentials. Many
youths migrate from the rich cultural, traditional and
agricultural enriched rural
areas to the urban cities after graduation in search of white
collar jobs.
Government
of various countries of the world do not fold their hands to
watch the large number of their population
comprising of youths roam the streets in search of the unavailable
government jobs. They initiate one
policy / program or the other to cushion the bad effects of unemployment and provide
jobs for the youths. They form collaborations with
financial and private institutions
to identify youth assets and
needs, implement collective practical
solutions and provide opportunities for the youths
and unemployed adults / retirees in order to establish
a mutually beneficial
relationships.
These collaborative
global partnerships have
resulted in a social and
economic enterprises through
funding and technical aids by
International Donors, World Bank,
Oil Companies, Philanthropists ,
Non-Governmental Organizations ( NGOs),
Faith Based Organizations
(FBOs) through their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Any social or
economic entrepreneurial initiative
is based on a model
that encourage sustainable
economic growth through collaboration. A
case study of
such initiative is Patriensa Pure Enterprise ( PPE) in
Ghana, a paper presented
by Wm. Tim Bailey et al.
at
the African Local
Summit “ Empowering Africa
to Achieve the
MDGs” held at
Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and
Technology, Kumasi, Ghana on April 1-4
2012. Similar projects can be replicated
in various countries
of the world
during the Post- COVID
era to create
employment for the
youths and others
whose jobs were affected by
the pandemic.
Patriensa is one of the Ghanaian community
located within the Ashanti
region. Because Patriensa
lacks many basic
community resources, she
formed collaboration with the
University of Texas ( UT) at Austin and
Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and
Technology ( KNUST) to establish
PPE.
PPE consists of three initial initiatives:
a a) a sachet water production business where “ sachets “ of water are produced and
sold;
b b) a plastic recycling initiative; and
c c) a biomass briquette project
to manufacture hand- pressed
briquettes made from
sawdust and other
agricultural waste products.
It is
worthy to note
that each initiative
trains and employs
community members, thereby
adding skillsets and
sources of gainful
income.
The
sachet production provides
a local source
of sachets and
also provides economic
growth and job
creation of at
least ten employees
including the manager
of PPE. The recycling project
takes care of
the environmental and
sanitation issue of
litter from used
plastic.
PPE goes
on to partner
with Trashy Bags,
a NGO based
in Accra, and
trained a team of
ten unemployed
residents of Patriensa to
collect, clean, and
produce products such
as grocery bags,
backpacks, and purses
from the litter.
As at 2012, the
briquette project is
in product development
and market analysis
to see how
best to utilize
the sawdust waste
from a local
sawmill for a cooking fuel
source and initially
employed two community
members.
A volunteer Board
of Directors consisting
of six members was
established to oversee
the enterprise and
ensure sustainability. The
board is charged
with the responsibility to
make decisions on
utilizing PPE revenue
to fund additional
projects in the
community.
These initiatives and other ones not mentioned here, address the Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth. This goal is aimed to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. The 17 SDGs are integrated—that is, they recognize that action in one area l affects outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. Thus Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals aims at strengthening the means of implementation and to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
Facts and figures from UN Development Program reveal that an estimated 172 million people worldwide were without work in 2018, which is an unemployment rate of 5 percent. As a result of an expanding labour force, global COVID 19 Pandemic, the number of unemployed is projected to increase by more than 1 million this year and reach more than 174 million by the end of 2020 ( approximation mine) .
The initiatives of the PPE also address environmental sustainability in Patriensa. The briquette research aims to counteract deforestation and utilize local agricultural waste. The water projects provide local clean water sources to the community. Tim Bailey (2012) emphasized that achieving the SDGs requires the partnership of governments, private sector, civil society and citizens alike to make sure we leave a better planet for future generations. It can be observed from the above that the collaboration between Patriensa, KNUST, UT, and Afren exemplifies the type of global partnerships pivotal in creating sustainable employment among the youths as well as creating sustainable change in developing countries.
Cited Works:
Bailey, T. et al. ( 2012). Sustaining and empowering a rural Ghanaian community through innovative social enterprise and global partnership. A paper presented at the African Local Summit “ Empowering Africa to Achieve the MDGs”. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
www.undp.org UN Development Program : Transforming our world #By2030.
www.undp.org
