UN Campaign Unite to Act aims to inspire and mobilise for the SDGs

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We are just days away from the 2023 SDG Summit, a landmark event marking the half-way point to the deadline of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

The Summit could not come at a more crucial time. According to the latest SDG Goals Report, only 12% of the SDG targets are on track, and progress is slow or insufficient for 50% of them. Over 30% of the SDGs have either stagnated or regressed. In this context, the SDG Summit offers a unique opportunity for SDG communicators to help redefine the global sustainability narrative, revive hope in a sustainable future, and reboot the drive to action on the SDGs.   

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the UN SDG Action Campaign calls for united advocacy and action to change our world for the better.Our conviction is that climate action starts in corporate boardrooms and regulatory agencies, as well as in personal choices about how to consume; that peace begins at negotiating tables and communities; and that justice can be found in both courtrooms and in the small business that practice fair hiring.

 To inspire action in all these places, we need to reframe the way we talk about the SDGs. And communicators play a pivotal role, by presenting the SDGs as an achievable and tangible possibility through clear, meaningful, and impactful communication.

Today’s intersectional challenges transcend any one person or government or organization. That does not mean we are powerless as individuals—only that we are more powerful together. That is why, in tandem with our international partners, we have pioneered global initiatives that drive collective SDG action, such as the #TurnItAround and #FlipTheScript campaigns, which have  mobilized over 350 million SDG actions in 190 countries, including beach cleanups in Turkey, youth development opportunities in Tanzania, and a range of SDG activations across Latin America and the Caribbean. It is also why each year we host the UN SDG Action Awards, celebrating individuals and organizations who inspire, mobilize, and connect their communities with the SDGs.

UNITE TO ACT, our new communications campaign, aims to mobilize an additional 150 million SDG actions around the world in 2023 and deliver a loud and clear message to world leaders that SDG progress must be accelerated.

The campaign is based on three established principles:

1. Clear Messaging and Storytelling: The SDGs are possible as long as we work together to achieve them. To drive that message home, we use stories that create emotional connections with audiences. Stefano Boeri Architetti’s Green Obsession, which reimagines urban centres as environmental oases, and Signpost, the International Rescue Committee’s community-led information service for migrants and refugees, show how the SDGs are being achieved, andfuel hope that they are indeed achievable.

2. Multi-channel Distribution: Reaching a wide and diverse audiencemeans engaging with traditional media such as television, radio, and print, as well as digital platforms like social media and mobile apps. It also means focusing on new media to reach agile and younger audiences. The ActNow app developed by our partners at AWorld, for instance, is delivering the SDG message of hope into phones and pockets, and is also galvanizing users to action. The app has already logged over 14 million SDG actions taken by individuals as they strive to reduce their carbon footprint, contribute to a more sustainable economy, and advance human rights.

3. Engagement and Participation: On 15 September, to kick-start the Global Week to #Act4SDGs, we are inviting partners around the world to stage a day of Global Action in their communities. The UNITE TO ACT call-to-action is specific, achievable, and impactful.

The  initiative builds on our 2022 Global Week engagement that mobilized 142 million actions and 70 public activations across 190 countries. In Italy, singer and UN SDG Action Campaign Ally Elisa, paused her concert at Milan’s iconic Sforzesco Castle and called on her audience to show their commitment for the SDGs. In Brazil, a flash mob outside Congress asked parliamentarians to pledge their commitment to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. And in India, marches took place at popular public locations across five states, with representatives of at least 12 marginalized communities sharing their views on inclusion.

We are used to thinking in divisions: we draw lines, segregating countries, peoples, issues. But the power of the SDGs is that they compel us to weave these different strands into a ribbon of unity that connects and encircles us all.   

The only question left is whether you will join us and unite to act.