United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

Hello everyone,

My name is Saoirse and I am a new member of the Speech & Language Therapy Sustainability Network. I have just graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University and hope to join you in your upcoming meetings.

This evening, I attended one of the Manchester Met Communication Disability Research Webinars held by Prof Sharynne McLeod & Prof Julie Marshall and thought I would share some key points I took from it.

It provided an outline of the Sustainable Development Goals, part of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda. Compared to the previous Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), the Sustainable Development Goals have a broader focus, providing “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”.

In total, there are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which are underpinned by five principles - “people, planet, prosperity, peace, partnership”. They address poverty, hunger, health, education, gender, innovation, climate, cities, land, oceans, justice and partnerships. I have provided a full list of the 17 SDGs at the bottom of this post.

A special issue of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology titled “Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals” covers all 17 SDGs with a focus on individuals with communication and/or swallowing disability and their carers. The special issue highlighted that successful communication is necessary for achieving the 17 SDGs at both a global and individual level. Thus, there is a current push for the addition of an 18th SDG: “Communication for all”.

The special issue can be found here:

McLeod, S., & Marshall, J. (2023).Communication for all and the Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160494 

It is recommended that we continually question and reflect on how we align these 17 SDGs in our professional and personal life.

The 17 SDGs:

1. No poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Good health and wellbeing
4. Quality education
5. Gender equality
6. Clean water and sanitation
7. Affordable and clean energy
8. Decent work and economic growth
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
10. Reduced inequalities
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Responsible consumption and production
13. Climate action
14. Life below water
15. Life on land
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
17. Partnerships for the goals