Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
465 Results found
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021 Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) As the pandemic continues to unfold, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021 outlines some significant impacts in many areas that are already apparent. The global extreme poverty rate rose for the first time in over 20 years, and 119 to 124 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020. There is a risk of a generational catastrophe regarding schooling, where an additional 101 million children have fallen below the minimum reading proficiency level, potentially wiping out two decades of education gains. Women have faced increased domestic violence, child marriage is projected to rise after a decline in recent years, and unpaid and underpaid care work is increasingly and disproportionately falling on the shoulders of women and girls, impacting educational and income opportunities and health. Notwithstanding the global economic slowdown, concentrations of major greenhouse gases continue to increase. With the global average temperature reaching about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels, the climate crisis has well and truly arrived, and its impacts are being felt across the world. The pandemic has also brought immense financial challenges, especially for developing countries – with a significant rise in debt distress and dramatic decreases in foreign direct investment and trade. Yet, with a surge in global solidarity and leadership from the highest political level, countries can still deliver on the 2030 Agenda and the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. A global vaccination plan, designed and implemented by the countries that can produce vaccines today or will be able to do so if properly supported, is an urgent first step in that direction. A recommitment by Governments, cities, businesses, and industries to ensure that the recovery reduces carbon emissions, conserves natural resources, creates better jobs, advances gender equality and tackles growing poverty and inequalities is a further imperative. 
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019 Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) Four years after signing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, countries have taken action to integrate the Goals and targets into their national development plans and to align policies and institutions behind them. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019 uses the latest available data to track global progress on the SDGs and to take stock of how far we have come in realizing our commitments. The report shows that, while advances have been made in some areas, monumental challenges remain. The evidence and data spotlight areas that require urgent attention and more rapid progress to realize the 2030 Agenda’s far-reaching vision. Member States agree that these challenges and commitments are interrelated and call for integrated solutions. It is therefore imperative to take a holistic view of the 2030 Agenda and to identify the highest impact areas in order to target interventions. The most urgent area for action is climate change. If we do not cut record-high greenhouse gas emissions now, global warming is projected to reach 1.5°C in the coming decades. As we are already seeing, the compounded effects will be catastrophic and irreversible: increasing ocean acidification, coastal erosion, extreme weather conditions, the frequency and severity of natural disasters, continuing land degradation, loss of vital species and the collapse of ecosystems. These effects, which will render many parts of the globe uninhabitable, will affect the poor the most. They will put food production at risk, leading to widespread food shortages and hunger, and potentially displace up to 140 million people by 2050. The clock for taking decisive actions on climate change is ticking. The other defining issue of our time is increasing inequality among and within countries. Poverty, hunger and disease continue to be concentrated in the poorest and most vulnerable groups of people and countries. Over 90 per cent of maternal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Three quarters of all stunted children live in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. People living in fragile States are twice as likely to lack basic sanitation, and about four times as likely to lack basic drinking water services as people in non-fragile situations. Youth are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Women and girls perform a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic work and lack autonomy in decision-making. Just as problems are interrelated, the solutions to poverty, inequality, climate change and other global challenges are also interlinked. Valuable opportunities exist to accelerate progress by examining interlinkages across Goals. For example, tackling climate change requires a shift to clean energy, reversing the trend in forest loss, and changing our production and consumption patterns. Promoting sustainable agriculture can help reduce both hunger and poverty, since close to 80 per cent of those who are extremely poor live in rural areas. Increasing access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene can save millions of lives per year and improve school attendance. Improving proficiency in reading and mathematics of some 200 million children who are falling behind in sub-Saharan Africa will help them climb out of poverty and ultimately enable the region to better compete in the global marketplace. This report also highlights the importance of investing in data for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Most countries do not regularly collect data for more than half of the global indicators. The lack of accurate and timely data on many marginalized groups and individuals makes them “invisible” and exacerbates their vulnerability. While considerable effort has been made to address these data gaps over the past four years, progress has been limited. Increased investment is urgently needed to ensure that adequate data are available to inform decision-making on all aspects of the 2030 Agenda. Towards that end, the Dubai Declaration, launched at the second World Data Forum in October 2018, outlines a demand-driven funding mechanism under Member States’ oversight that will respond quickly and efficiently to the priorities of national statistical systems. 
Addressing Anti-semitism in Schools: Training Curriculum for Vocational Education Teachers Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: UNESCO | OSCE. Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights This OSCE/ODIHR and UNESCO co-publication aims to help vocational school teachers to prevent and respond to anti-Semitism. The curriculum, intended for teacher trainers, is designed to be comprehensive, robust, practical and adaptable. It suggests concrete ways to address anti-Semitism and counter prejudice in and through education, while promoting human rights, global citizenship education, and gender equality.The co-publication is part of a series of four training curricula, designed for trainers of (1) primary school teachers, (2) secondary school teachers, (3) vocational school teachers, and (4) school directors. 
Cracking the Code: Empowering Rural Women and Girls through Digital Skills; Side Event during the 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 14 March 2018, United Nations Headquarters: Report Year of publication: 2018 Corporate author: UNESCO | Germany. Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) UNESCO and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) co-organised the side event ‘Cracking the code: Empowering rural women and girls through digital skills’ on 14 March 2018, United Nations Headquarters in New York, on the margins of the 62nd session of the CSW. More than 500 participants participated in the event while a broad global audience followed the discussions through live webcast.This report provides an overview of the discussions and examples of government, civil society organizations, and private sector initiatives to close the gender digital gap and empower rural girls and women to be ICT users, creators and innovators through gender-responsive digital skills training as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education more broadly. 
Uzbekistan: Voluntary National Review 2020 Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) This voluntary review contains information on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals by the Republic of Uzbekistan, objectives and directions for further activities. Special attention is paid to SDG 4 "Education", where the priority is to improve the quality and coverage of education at all levels, as well as the development of the lifelong education system. 
Global Sustainable Development Report 2019: The Future is Now Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The Report, requested by all countries to evaluate progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, is the first of its kind since the landmark Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted four years ago. Entitled “The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development,” the report finds that the current development model is not sustainable, and the progress made in the last two decades is in danger of being reversed through worsening social inequalities and potentially irreversible declines in the natural environment that sustains us. The scientists concluded that a far more optimistic future is still attainable, but only by drastically changing development policies, incentives and actions.The report argues that understanding the interconnections between the individual SDGs and the concrete systems that define society today will be essential to devise policies that manage difficult trade-offs. 
[Summary] World Youth Report: Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The World Youth Report on “Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), examines the mutually supportive roles of the new agenda and current youth development efforts. The report provides insight into the role of young people in sustainable development in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related frameworks, in particular, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Programme of Action for Youth.The Report considers the role the 2030 Agenda can play in enhancing youth development efforts and examines how evidence-based youth policies can help accelerate youth-related objectives. It explores the critical role young people have in the implementation of sustainable development efforts at all levels. This publication is a summary of the World Youth Report on “Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. 
Paris Agreement Year of publication: 2015 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” 
World Youth Report: Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Year of publication: 2018 Corporate author: United Nations (UN) The World Youth Report on “Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), examines the mutually supportive roles of the new agenda and current youth development efforts. The report provides insight into the role of young people in sustainable development in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related frameworks, in particular, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Programme of Action for Youth.The Report considers the role the 2030 Agenda can play in enhancing youth development efforts and examines how evidence-based youth policies can help accelerate youth-related objectives. It explores the critical role young people have in the implementation of sustainable development efforts at all levels. 
Gender and Recovery Toolkit: Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Crisis and Recovery Settings; Updated 2024 Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) The Gender and Recovery toolkit is a practical resource in the hands of UNDP personnel to help government, civil society and other partners put gender equality at the core of immediate and long-term recovery processes. It shows how to incorporate gender perspectives and women’s participation throughout the recovery programme cycle – from assessment, strategic planning and framing of results to budgeting and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.The toolkit emphasizes the need to address the root causes of gender inequality and fragility by transforming power dynamics. It advocates for approaches that go beyond increasing women’s representation, focusing on tackling masculinities and reshaping institutions, behaviors, and norms. It underscores the importance of holistic strategies to address the interconnected challenges of climate change, peacebuilding, and gender equality in crisis contexts, highlighting the role of technology and innovative programming in empowering women. The seven guidance notes and tip sheets incorporate recent updates to global policy frameworks with updated indicators and robust data sources. While primarily designed for UNDP practitioners, this resource is valuable for all partners in crisis and recovery settings.