The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Hidden Politics and How to Hold the UN Accountable

Join Group of 78 for a Luncheon at New Desi Zaiqa (in Carlingwood Mall, Ottawa) as we discuss the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with Adam Sneyd and Ruby Dagher. 

The UN SDGs were heralded as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people would enjoy peace and prosperity. While each of the seventeen goals sounds great in theory, the politics that envelop their implementation is not at all harmonious. The 169 targets and 247 indicators that have been designed to drive the implementation of the goals and to assess progress are, in fact, highly political. In this talk, Adam Sneyd discusses some of the hidden politics of UN goal-setting. He argues that the SDG project is all about maintaining the status quo. To radically reduce unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, Adam is convinced that we will need an independent international commission to recalibrate the UN's goal-setting process and deliver on the promise of sustainable development.

About the Speakers:

Adam Sneyd is an Associate Professor with the Department of Political Science at Moo U in Guelph, Ontario. He spends a lot of time trying to analyze the politics of the global economy and has to date produced a handful of books. Adam built his career by focusing on the international cotton trade and poverty in African contexts including Tanzania and Senegal. He subsequently worked on food, commodities and the challenge of corporate social responsibility in Cameroon. Adam's recent work has emphasized the politics of development, and his new book unpacks the politics of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Beyond the university, Adam is in his element in the great outdoors and he continues to work to build his skills on the trumpet and flugelhorn.

Ruby Dagher is an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa (International Development and Global Studies) and has recently published a book on the SDGs, The role of monitoring and evaluation in the UN 2030 SDGs.