Decade Of Action Research Articles

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: Can multinational enterprises lead the Decade of Action?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 by all UN member states and have been embraced by many multinational enterprises (MNEs) and international NGOs. They created a ‘hybrid governance’ platform in which companies, governments, NGOs, and knowledge institutes can work on achieving common goals through targeted action and serve as the leading global sustainable development framework until 2030. By the year 2020, however, progress towards the goals proved slow, prompting the UN to announce a ‘Decade of Action’. The slow or limited adoption and implementation of the SDG Agenda by MNEs – in close interaction with government policies – is one of the root causes for delayed progress. The question is no longer ‘why’ MNEs should develop sustainability strategies, but rather ‘how’. A number of related questions arise. What have been the roles of MNEs in progress towards the SDGs, what is needed from them in the future, and what can be the role of international business (IB) scholarship in shaping discussion and action? This Special Issue tackles these questions from four angles: (1) identifying and helping to fill theoretical gaps in IB research on the SDGs; (2) asking which SDGs and targets provide promising venues for societally relevant IB research topics; (3) assessing and helping to fill empirical gaps by using, complementing, and upgrading relevant SDG indicators; and (4) showing how IB research and policy practice can become better aligned.

Business alignment for the “Decade of Action”

The SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement, taken together, constitute the best hope for charting a new course for the world’s politics and economics, to produce “the future we want.” This paper briefly explores the central environmental, social, and economic challenges; the pathways to sustainability; and the central role of companies in achieving our global goals. We are facing four very deep and interconnected global environmental crises: human-induced climate change, unsustainable land use, mega-pollution, and increased frequency and intensity of pandemic zoonotic diseases. At the same time, we face massive social crises, including increasing inequality. There are six necessary SDG Transformations that each requires a major change in the organization of societal, political, and economic activities – which delineates also the critical role of business. The paper specifies four key questions that companies and their stakeholders can ask to effectively align with the "Decade of Action" needed to achieve the SDG ambitions.

Impacto de la pandemia en la implementaciόn de la “Agenda 2030”: ¿Agravaciόn de problemas o señal para actuar?

coming decade was supposed to be a decade of action, a period of promoting of a common vision and accelerated execution of the The Sustainable Development Agenda 2030” adopted in 2015 by the UN General Assembly and addressing 17 priority goals, from zero hunger and poverty to effective curbing of climate change. However, the rapid spread of the new COVID-19 virus in a short time has changed the world we are used to beyond recognition. Today it is impossible to find an area that would not be affected by the pandemic. In this article, the authors consider its negative impact on the achievement of the main goals of sustainable development and highlight that, despite “the forced retreat into the shadow” of sustainable development issues, the pandemic demonstrated the need to reformat priorities, “reset” the global world order and step-up work to achieve the SDGs at the national and global levels which, most likely, will again translate into practices already in the post-COVID era. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

The Sustainable Development Goals and the University of Bath: An opportunity

The United Nations (UN) has designated the 2020s as the “decade of action” to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper responds to the call for universities to join this effort by reviewing how the University of Bath could support the SDGs more fully. A first step is monitor alignment of teaching and research with the 17 SDG goals. Having reviewed how to do this, we then review their role in relation to university management and stakeholder engagement, considering in turn how this can be linked with action on climate change, local collaboration and civic partnerships, engagement with the business sector, international networking, and the role of the SDGs in University league tables and rankings. We conclude with eight recommendations. These cover steps to strengthen a sense of shared purpose among staff and students, increase public awareness of what the University does, and facilitate cross-disciplinary research collaboration and innovative teaching. Universities can choose how far to align themselves with the SDGs over the next decade, but not how far the SDGs will be used by others to evaluate them.

The East and Southern Africa Ministerial Commitment: a review of progress toward fulfilling young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights (2013–2018)

Whilst significant progress has been made in recent years with respect to advancing health and education, the ESA region’s young people still experience challenges in relation to their SRHR. This study brings together learning from the available data and reports, as well as the experiences of those closely connected with the process of affirmation/endorsement and implementation of the ESA Commitment between 2013 and 2018. Whilst challenges remain – particularly in relation to monitoring and accountability – the ESA Commitment has instigated notable progress, made possible in part by the emphasis on multisectoral collaboration between health and education sectors nationally and regionally. Sustained political, technical, and financial investment in young people’s health and rights will ensure that the countries of the region are able to build upon these successes and deliver on their commitments to young people during this decade of action towards the realisation of the SDGs and harnessing the demographic dividend for Africa for years to come.

Better nutrition, better lives: Countries' positioning to fight all forms of malnutrition.

ABSTRACTObjective.To identify how countries have positioned themselves to fight against all forms of malnutrition.Methods.Qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study of the statements of 91 out of the 127 (71.7%) countries that issued declarations in the Second International Conference on Nutrition.Results.According to the analysis of the official statements from the Conference, countries still responded to nutrition issues in a traditional way. Food systems were part of the narrative and mentioned as part of the problem and solution, but little thought was given to their determinants.Conclusions.The Decade of Action on Nutrition is spurred on by the urgent need to coordinate global endeavors in the fight against malnutrition and could aggregate efforts in prioritizing actions to address the determinants rather than the biological outcomes of malnutrition–which requires commitments–; and strengthening the countries’ ability to implement robust regulatory measures. These measures could be empowered through efforts across different levels, making use of multilateral spaces, and through strengthening civil society participation, including developing better mechanisms for the recognition and control of conflicts of interest across different political spaces.

The changing prospects of corporate social responsibility in the decade of action: Do personal values matter?

AbstractThe aim of this study is to consider the role of personal values in shaping the prospects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the decade of action (2020–2030). Partial Least Squares was used to examine the research question. The study makes three contributions by examining Schwartz's theory in an international context, the prospects of social responsibility, and providing insights into the dynamics of values and social responsibility. The results placed corporate transparency and environmental protection as the emerging themes of CSR in the decade of action. The study found that values do not significantly explain the changes in the perception of CSR in the decade of action. The study furthers the research agenda on the prospects of CSR and attempts to compensate for the dearth of research on CSR futurology.

Safeguarding freshwater life beyond 2020: Recommendations for the new global biodiversity framework from the European experience

AbstractPlans are currently being drafted for the next decade of action on biodiversity—both the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Biodiversity Strategy of the European Union (EU). Freshwater biodiversity is disproportionately threatened and underprioritized relative to the marine and terrestrial biota, despite supporting a richness of species and ecosystems with their own intrinsic value and providing multiple essential ecosystem services. Future policies and strategies must have a greater focus on the unique ecology of freshwater life and its multiple threats, and now is a critical time to reflect on how this may be achieved. We identify priority topics including environmental flows, water quality, invasive species, integrated water resources management, strategic conservation planning, and emerging technologies for freshwater ecosystem monitoring. We synthesize these topics with decades of first‐hand experience and recent literature into 14 special recommendations for global freshwater biodiversity conservation based on the successes and setbacks of European policy, management, and research. Applying and following these recommendations will inform and enhance the ability of global and European post‐2020 biodiversity agreements to halt and reverse the rapid global decline of freshwater biodiversity.

Social, economic, and legislative factors and global road traffic fatalities

BackgroundRoad traffic fatalities (RTF) is the 8th cause of mortality around the world. At the end of the Decade of Action, it would be of utmost importance to revisit our knowledge on the determinants of RTF. The aim of this study is to assess factors related to RTF at global level.MethodsWe used road safety development index which accounts for the interactions between system, human and products to assess the RTF in 115 and 113 countries in 2013 and 2016, respectively. To analyze data, three statistical procedures (linear regression, classification and regression trees, and multivariate adaptive regression splines) were employed.ResultsClassification and regression trees has the best performance amongst all others followed by multivariate adaptive regression splines for 2013 and 2016 data set with an R2 around 0.83. Results show that any increase in human development index was associated with RTF reduction. Comparing RTF data of 2013 and 2016, 8 countries experienced a change of more than 30%, which demonstrated a significant relationship with GINI index (named after Corrado Gini). Considering the three components of human development index, it is revealed that education explained most of RTF variation in classification and regression trees model followed by income and life expectancy.ConclusionPolicymakers should consider road collisions as a socio-economic issue. In this regard, they can make provisions to reduce RTF in the long run by focusing on enhancing the three components of human development index, mainly education. However, there is a need to investigate the causation pathway among these three components with RTF with different time-trend procedures.

Star Trek Offers Insights That Illuminate Actor Engagement in Global Nutrition Governance Comment on "Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool"

This commentary describes insights from Star Trek’s fictional television series to understand how state and non-state actors address conflicts of interest (COIs) through global nutrition governance. I examine the findings of Ralston and colleagues for 44 state and non-state actors who responded to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) consultation for a COI risk-assessment tool, developed for member states to engage effectively with non-state actors to address malnutrition in all forms. Star Trek reveals that actor engagement is inevitable in a shared universe. The Prime Directive is a non-interference principle reflecting a moral commitment to reduce harm, respect autonomy and protect rights. Engagement principles are relevant to all actors who influence nutrition policies and programs, and must be held accountable when their actions undermine healthy and sustainable food systems. Certain actors use COI to justify non-engagement with commercial actors yet competing interests, biases, corruption and regulatory capture are distinct challenges to manage. Finally, Star Trek’s characters serve as allegories to understand actors’ motives and actions to promote healthy and sustainable food systems. Unlike non-state actors, states are legally required to achieve their commitments and targets in the United Nations’ (UN) Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda.

Ultra-processed food industry regulation for tackling obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases in the Brazilian legislature: many proposals, no enactments.

To assess efforts of the Brazilian legislature to regulate ultra-processed food industry practices related to obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases during the first 4 years of the United Nations' Decade of Action on Nutrition. We searched the Chamber of Deputies and Federal Senate internal databases to identify bills under consideration between 2016 and December 2019. Keywords related to the main recommendations of international organisations regarding the regulation of food industry practices were used. Descriptive and content analysis of the bills were carried out. Brazilian legislature (Chamber of Deputies and Federal Senate). None. Eighty-four bills were identified. The most frequently addressed topics were: nutrition labelling (38·1 %), marketing of unhealthy products (30·9 %), availability of unhealthy products (26·2 %) and critical nutrients content (14·3 %). Only 9·5 % of bills have proposed taxation on unhealthy products. No bill was passed during that period; 2·4 % were rejected and 10·7 % archived. Among the bills still under consideration, 52·4 % have not been passed in any Committee. Although many bills have been introduced, no regulation of ultra-processed food industry practices has been enacted by the Brazilian legislature by 2020. It is likely that no positive impact on population nutrition in Brazil will be achieved by the end of the United Nation's Decade of Action on Nutrition, in 2025 - especially regarding those goals set by the Brazilian government which were supposed to have been achieved by 2019.

Global targets that reveal the social-ecological interdependencies of sustainable development.

We are approaching a reckoning point in 2020 for global targets that better articulate the interconnections between biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable development. The Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD's) post-2020 global biodiversity framework and targets will be developed as we enter the last decade to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. Despite recent findings of unprecedented declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services and their negative impacts on SDGs, these declines remain largely unaccounted for in the SDG's upcoming 'decade of action'. We use a social-ecological systems framework to develop four recommendations for targets that capture the interdependencies between biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable development. These recommendations, which are primarily aimed at the CBD post-2020 process, include moving from separate social and ecological targets to social-ecological targets that: account for (1) the support system role of biodiversity and (2) ecosystem services in sustainable development. We further propose target advances that (3) capture social-ecological feedbacks reinforcing unsustainable outcomes, and (4) reveal indirect feedbacks hidden by current target systems. By making these social-ecological interdependencies explicit, it is possible to create coherent systems of global targets that account for the complex role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in sustainable development.

Developing a national road traffic safety education program in Iran

BackgroundEducation is a pivot included Decade of Action for Road Safety initiative, which has reduced deaths caused by accidents in developed countries. Given the circumstances of each country, a proper education program is necessary. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop the National Road Traffic Safety Education Program (NRTSEP) and reduce Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs).MethodsThis study used a qualitative approach and was conducted in Iran. Data were obtained through sixteen semi-structured in-depth interviews from indifferent road safety and health promotion field experts as well as eleven focus group discussion (FGD) sessions conducted with participants from general population. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used to converge and compare themes through data. The initial pattern of the program was developed and subsequently, the designed program was validated and finalized by two-step Delphi method for the consensus of expert opinion.ResultsThe following six main themes emerged from the analysis: target groups, program content, educational methods, instructors, resources and evaluation. The target group consisted of children, youth, parents, teachers, elderly, motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians, drivers, driver license applicants, instructors and administrators of driving schools, and specific groups such as the disabled, managers at different levels, and policymakers. The content of the program consisted of 27 items, including traffic laws and regulations, first aid, and medical emergencies. Educational practices and authorities were determined based on the target group and educational content. The most important resources of the program were human force and other cases, which can be managed in case of a lead agency. In the evaluation dimension, the cases such as mortality rate, hospitalization, behavioral changes, and other cases can be considered.ConclusionsThe designed program should be implemented for all target groups for road safety promotion. The proper content was provided with proper educational methods and instructors for the target groups. A lead agency is needed to provide the resources and funding to run the program.

Década de Ação em Nutrição: reflexões sobre a conjuntura brasileira

Objetivo: Fazer uma reflexão sobre a conjuntura brasileira relacionada à Década de Ação em Nutrição. Métodos: Ensaio desenvolvido por meio de pesquisa teórica de base bibliográfica. Resultados: A Agenda 2030 surgiu como alternativa para discutir maneiras de melhorar o quadro de necessidades humanas e as condições do meio ambiente de maneira sustentável. A nutrição tem papel de destaque nesse sentido, sendo ao menos 12 dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) relacionados ao estado nutricional. Nesse contexto, a Década de Ação em Nutrição está permeada em seis dos 17 ODS e focada no segundo que visa acabar com a fome, alcançar a segurança alimentar e nutricional, melhorar a nutrição e promover a agricultura sustentável. Como signatário da Década de Ação em Nutrição, o Brasil declarou, por meio de seis pilares, seu acordo internacional com a melhoria da qualidade da alimentação da sua população e com a promoção de um sistema alimentar sustentável. Este ensaio destaca os pilares segundo e terceiro, que enfocam a importância da cobertura universal de ações em nutrição nos sistemas de saúde e da proteção social. Realiza-se uma reflexão acerca da incorporação das ações de nutrição no sistema de saúde brasileiro e da relevância do Programa Bolsa Família na proteção social de grupos vulneráveis no país. Conclusão: Verifica-se como desafios a atuação do nutricionista, o trabalho interdisciplinar e a capacitação dos profissionais de saúde na implantação das ações de alimentação e nutrição nos serviços de saúde. Destaca-se a necessidade de mudanças estruturais no Programa Bolsa Família.

Effect of Road Safety Laws on Deaths and Injuries from Road Traffic Collisions in Colombia.

Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America. It is an upper middle-income country with an estimated population of 49.2 million people, and road traffic collisions (RTCs) are the second most common cause of traumatic death. The United Nations (UN) proclaimed 2011 to 2020 as the "Decade of Action for Road Safety." In this context, the government of Colombia established the National Road Safety Plan (PNSV) for the period 2011-2021, aiming to reduce RTC-related deaths by 26%. Some road safety laws (RSLs) were implemented before the PNSV, but their impact on deaths and injuries is still not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether these RSLs have had a long-term effect on road safety in the country. Data on RTC casualties, deaths, and injuries from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2017 were collated from official Colombian governmental publications. Three different periods were considered for analysis: 2001-2010 to evaluate the Transit Code; 2011-2017 to evaluate the PNSV; and 2001-2017 to evaluate a composite of the full study period. Analyses of trends in deaths and injuries were related to dates of new RSLs. A total of 102,723 deaths (12.7%) and 707,778 injuries (87.3%) were reported from 2001 through 2017. The Transit Code period (2001-2010) showed a 10.1% decline in deaths, 16.6% decline in injuries, and rates per 100,000 inhabitants and per 10,000 registered vehicles also declined. During the period of the PNSV (2011-2017), there was an increase in the number of deaths by 16.6%, injuries decreased by 1.7%, and death rates per 100,000 inhabitants also increased. During the total study period, a 12.4% reduction in the total number of casualties was achieved, and death and injury rates per 100,000 inhabitants decreased by 12.4% and 27.5%, respectively. Despite the introduction of the PNSV, RTCs remain the second most common cause of preventable death in Colombia. Overall, while the absolute number of RTCs and deaths has been increasing, the rate of RTCs per 10,000 registered vehicles has been decreasing. This suggests that although the goals of the PNSV may not be realized, some of the laws emanating from it may be having a beneficial effect. Further study is required over a protracted period to determine the longer-term impact of these initiatives.

Urgent health challenges for the next decade 2030: World Health Organization

As a new year and a new decade kickoff, WHO has released a list of urgent, global health challenges in January 2020. This list, developed with input from WHO experts around the world, reflects a deep concern that leaders are failing to invest enough resources in core health priorities and systems. This puts lives, livelihoods, and economies in jeopardy. None of these issues are simple to address, but they are within reach. Public health is ultimately a political choice. All the challenges in this list demand a response from more than just the health sector. With the deadline for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals quickly approaching, the United Nations General Assembly has underscored that the next 10 years must be the "decade of action".

Maximising nutritional benefits within the energy, water and food nexus

Many countries are exposed to malnutrition within their population, either in the form of undernutrition or obesity leading to dire affects for human health. As a consequence, a ‘Decade of Action’ was certified by the UN in 2016 to promote the need to end all types of malnutrition. Within food security objectives, this study evaluates the possibility to maximise the nutritional value of agricultural output through the optimal allocation of water and energy resources. Using a hypothetical case study in Qatar, two complementary multi-objective mathematical models are developed to solve various scenarios. Firstly, the goal programming minimises the expected value of negative deviation from the desired target in food groups and nutrients. Secondly, the linear programming model increases the expected value of self-sufficiency percentage in food groups and nutrients. The results indicate the specific dependency of increasing the self-sufficiency of different nutrients on the increased production of dates group and fish group, implying that dates and fish can be considered strategic crops in terms of their contribution towards food security, owing to the fact that they require the least quantity of water and energy resources for production. As poultry and meat groups require the largest quantities of water and energy resources, optimal results do not favour their production. The optimal production mix that increases the satisfaction of nutrients at 40% of the food groups self-sufficiency satisfaction with the same amount of energy and water are as follows: 52378, 47085, 111303 tonnes of dates, milk and dairy products and fish groups respectively. This production mix will achieve 29.18%, 100%, 90.8%, and 2.5% satisfaction percentage of carbohydrates, protein, fats, and fibres respectively.

Decade of Action on SDG 6

Decade of Action on SDG 6

24th International Conference on Safe Community: count down to decade of action for road safety.

Worldwide, every year 1.35 million people die due to road traffic injuries (Global Traffic Safety Report 2018). Road traffic injuries are now the leading cause of death for children and young people (5-29 years old), as reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The ‘Decade of Action’ for road safety (2011-2020) was a universal start to save millions of lives by taking a multi-disciplinary collaboration approach for road safety management. It encouraged countries to have safe road infrastructures, safe vehicles, safety-enhanced user behavior and improved road-injury related health services. All countries were encouraged to join this movement to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ‘Safe Community’ program is a framework to employ local resources and public participation to improve the community safety and the empowerment of the population which will lead to SDGs. So, there is great potential for local communities to improve the safety of their people. Now, in the last year of the Decade of Action for road safety, we have an opportunity to review our achievements, strengths and weaknesses, and future needs so we can develop an action plan for the second decade that will be more equitable and evidence-based considering the local characteristics. The 24th International Conference on Safe Community gathers us to discuss and share our experiences and scientific achievements. Sharing and learning from other safe communities about road safety improvements provides a great example for local communities to employ a bottom-up approach to prevent road trauma due to road traffic injuries.

A cross-sectional study to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice toward road safety rules and regulations among higher secondary school students in rural field practice area of a medical college

Background: India being a developing country faces a double burden of communicable disease and increasing burden of non-communicable disease like road traffic accidents. The year 2000–2011 was declared “Decade of action for road safety” by the UN General Assembly with a goal to reduce and stabilize road traffic accidents. Age groups from 15 to 19 years and second 5 to 14 years are more commonly exposed to road traffic accidents (RTAs), with this background, the study was focused on school-children. Objectives: The objectives of the study were as follows: (i) To study the sociodemographic profile of the study population and (ii) to study the knowledge, attitude, and practices of road safety rules and regulations among higher secondary school students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 266 higher secondary school students in Lokikere, field practice area of S. S. Institute of Medical Sciences, Davangere. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaire for a period of 2 months from October 2019 to November 2019. Results: Among 266 students, 97.7% of students have received knowledge from their teacher and 61.2% of higher secondary school students have adequate knowledge and positive attitude regarding road safety rules and regulations, even after 95.5% of students having adequate knowledge of age to attain driving license still 23.4% of them drive vehicle without obtaining license, of which 48.3% drive vehicle without parent’s knowledge and 29% of them have been exposed to RTA. Conclusion: Majority of the students have good knowledge of road safety. Around 95% of the students have adequate knowledge, 61.2% of students have positive attitude regarding road safety rules. About 23% of the students drove vehicles without license, among whom 48.3% drove vehicles without parents knowledge and 29% of them have been exposed to RTA.