Queering the SDGs | YAEF Ghana

In September 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations made history and adopted a plan for achieving a better future for all — laying out a path over the next 15 years to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet.

It was called Agenda 2030.

Part of this Agenda are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. The new goals result from a process that has been more inclusive than ever, with governments involving business, civil society and citizens from the outset.

The finalised SDGs are:

YAE Foundation are part of the mission of 2030 Agenda which specifically state that we should ‘leave no one behind’ and to ‘reach the furthest behind first,’ which is often sexual and gender minorities. The video below explains more about this:

Where do YAE Foundation fit into the SDGs?

Watch this video from the UN Free and Equal Campaign to find out more about the experiences of sexual and gender minorities globally.

“There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals all based on a single, guiding principle: to leave no one behind…we will only realise this vision if we reach all people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity... Ending marginalisation and exclusion of LGBT people is a human rights priority – and a development imperative." - United Nations

YAE Foundation recognise that to make a safer and better world for queer youth, we must engage in the issues that they face in all aspects of their lives. This does not just include the impacts of direct homo/bi/transphobia and interphobia, but also how sexual and gender minorities are impacted by other intersecting factors, such as poverty, poor health outcomes, education, societal inequalities, gender equality, work and employment.

Our SDGs Champions

With this in mind, we have developed our SDG Champions. Our team come together to take our work further. They map what we do to not only the UN Declaration of Human Rights under the Human Rights Education of our focus areas. but also to Agenda 2030.

The team do this in several ways, such as:

mapping everything that we do onto the SDGs internally.
ensuring that our research projects are driven forward to United Nations review panels when nation states measure their progress against the SDG targets;
developing partnerships with other organisations to drive the Agenda 2030 forward; YAE Foundation is part of the Global SOGI Stakeholder Group on SDGs.
Training CSOs on the SDGs and how to use them as an advocacy tool.
Engaging in the UN High Level Political Forum on SDGs to ensure that sexual and gender minorities are not left behind in their plans to hit the goals;
Developing a spotlight report on SDGs on Ghana and joining SOGI stakeholder group on SDGs in drafting a position paper.
Raise the voices of sexual and gender minorities so that no one is left behind.

Objectives

To strengthen the capacity of queer youth and CSOs to understand and use the SDGs as a tool for advocacy and accountability.
To amplify the voices and priorities of sexual and gender minorities in national, regional, and global SDGs processes.
To promote inclusive development by mapping organizational initiatives and strategies onto the SDGs and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
To influence policy and decision-making through research, spotlight reports, and position papers that highlight the gaps and needs of LGBTQI+ communities.
To build partnerships with local and global stakeholders in advancing Agenda 2030 with a focus on equality, dignity, and non-discrimination.