Countries everywhere are taking steps to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals . This set of 17 goals sets the course to transform our world by 2030. It’s early days, but momentum is building. Here’s how countries and communities are leading the charge to speed up progress.
At age 72, Binisera Lamichhane Magar has just turned on the faucet on her first water pipe. "The best part of my life was spent struggling to get water," she says on the day she and her neighbours gathered in the town square to try out the piped water tank. It’s the first in this remote village, where generations of women have given up school to gather water for farmlands high in the mountains of Nepal.
In the rural Lebanese village of Bireh, older generations were raised with the notion that it’s better for a girl to stay at home. But things are changing, and 17-year-old Alissar is growing up with more choices. One driving force in this transformation is the solar-powered electricity that’s been installed in the village. Thanks to the light from the new street lights, Alissar and her friends are no longer afraid to go out to school or to pick up groceries.
Gregoria Cruz doesn't just recycle trash, she re-imagines it. She's part of a seven-member team of women who each day collect about 400 kg of waste in Arequipa, Peru’s second biggest city. They’re on a mission to rid their streets of plastic and other refuse and to stop opportunities for sustainable development from being tossed away like garbage.
A severe drought, the second this decade, has displaced more than 600,000 people in Somalia. To make matters worse, the price of water has risen dramatically. For farmers struggling to earn a living, a newly-built water dam is proving to be a life – and money – saver.