17 Days, 17 Goals: Goal 17 - Partnerships
Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
- Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development -
This post is part of our blog series: 17 Days, 17 Goals. The blog series features foundations working on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals leading up to the first anniversary of the SDGs. The Council on Foundations Sustainable Development Goals & Philanthropy initiative is in partnership with the United Nations Foundation and SDG Philanthropy Platform. Find us on social media with #PhilSDGs.
Why do we need Goal 17?
The seventeenth and final goal of the SDGs is the most unique of them all. Recognizing the necessity for cross-sector collaboration in order to achieve these ambitious targets, the 17th goal focuses on promoting partnerships to ensure successful implementation of the SDGs. Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals is about the process governments, foundations, corporations, and global citizens must undertake to successfully pursue the goals worldwide. In addition to the many partnerships we have highlighted throughout this blog series, philanthropy has several initiatives underway to build partnerships to achieve the SDGs globally, and here in the United States.
Featured: Impact 2030, SDG Philanthropy Platform, and the Council on Foundations
Impact 2030
Impact 2030 is a global private-sector-led collaboration created to mobilize employee volunteers to directly and substantially contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Impact 2030 partner companies believe that commitment to corporate volunteering — when used in concert with peer companies, civil society, the United Nations, government, and academia — is a powerful tool to accelerate the global achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, advance the practice and impact of employee volunteering, and inspire the private sector to positive action. Many of the Council's corporate philanthropy members are leading the work of Impact2030.
SDG Philanthropy Platform
The SDG Philanthropy Platform is a global initiative led by the Foundation Center, UN Development Program, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, supported by the Council on Foundations and other organizations. This is a platform for partnerships around the world, all in pursuit of the global goals. The Platform will also record and make public data about how philanthropy is helping achieve the SDGs.
The SDG Philanthropy platform has five pilot countries - Ghana, Kenya, Colombia, Indonesia, and the United States. In each pilot country, philanthropy is organizing locally to engage with government, civil society, and the private sector to achieve the SDGs. The platform highlights lessons learned in each country, and creates opportunities for sharing across nations for how to help philanthropy support local implementation of the SDGs.
In September 2016, the platform launched a new Indicator Wizard which can help foundations determine which Sustainable Development Goal(s) and Targets relate to their work, and which SDG Indicators canbe used to measure your work's impact. This wizard helps philanthropy translate strategic priorities into an SDG-compatible framework consisting of the relevant goal(s), targets, and indicators that are universally comparable.
The Council on Foundations
This blog series has been one piece of the Council on Foundation's larger Sustainable Development Goals and Philanthropy Initiative, a project by which the Council is connecting US philanthropy to the SDGs. We have held convenings across the country helping funders identify how the SDGs are related to their work, written thought pieces on the subject, and even launched a report called From Global Goals to Local Impact. We also lead the SDG Philanthropy Platform's work in the United States as pilot country of the global program.
