Where would the world be without the utilised potential of its humans? Surely wouldn’t be a world where you’re freely, virtually connecting with a community like ours.
Human potential is the driving force behind progress and development. The importance of human development cannot be overstated: this is why, in our Impact Innovator contest, we’ve grouped the first four UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Track 1 ‘Human Development’. These goals aim to promote quality education, reduce poverty and hunger, improve health and wellbeing, and promote gender equality.
Achieving these goals is crucial for creating a world where each person is equipped to give themselves and others the best possible standard of living. How are we doing on these SDGs, with 7 years left to 2030?
The 1st SDG aims to eradicate poverty worldwide. Poverty has a vicious cycle, with economic, social, and psychological factors reinforcing each other to create a self-perpetuating cycle of deprivation. Lack of education and skills, limited access to healthcare, and inadequate housing and sanitation creates further barriers to human development, as people struggle to meet their basic needs and invest in their own futures. Some emerging solutions for poverty reduction include the provision of affordable housing and microfinance. Liz Ogbu is a notable thought leader in poverty reduction through affordable housing, which can provide stability and allow individuals to focus on securing sustainable income. Microfinance initiatives like Grameen Bank have also been successful at helping low-income individuals pursue sustainable income sources like entrepreneurship, to break out of poverty. Future potential methods to tackle poverty include innovative financing mechanisms such as social impact bonds to incentivize private sector investment, as well as financial products and services which are accessible & supportive to low-income individuals and communities.
Poverty frequently deteriorates human diets, thereby bringing us to SDG2, which aims to end hunger and ensure food security for all. The biggest challenge in achieving this SDG, is the impact of climate change and other environmental pressures. These factors are leading to declining agricultural productivity, water scarcity, and the degradation of natural resources. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce enough food to meet the needs of a growing global population.
The current ideal way to solve this food scarcity is to tackle both the supply and the demand side. A notable figure setting an example on this front is Samuel Rigu, the Co-founder of Safi Organics, a Kenyan social enterprise that produces organic fertilizer from farm waste. His work fights against hunger in a dual manner- increasing crop yields to increase food supply, whilst also creating jobs and economic opportunities to provide income to reduce food insecurity. Another notable figure is Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, the founder of ColdHubs, a company that develops cost-effective solar-powered cold storage units for farmers to store their excess produce for times of food scarcity. Potential business innovation opportunities in working for SDG2 include building climate-resilient agricultural practices and technologies, developing innovative food products that meet nutritional needs and reduce food waste, and creating innovative distribution channels that ensure access to healthy and affordable food for all.
The importance of health, both in our diet and in our lives, brings us to SDG3, which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all. Pursuing this SDG engenders various obstacles, such as limited systemic access to quality healthcare and sanitation, primarily in low-income nations, and societal issues like poverty, gender inequality, and discrimination that can affect health outcomes. Tackling disparities in healthcare necessitates increasing current levels of health infrastructure, and addressing social determinants of health and sanitation, such as poverty and inequality. Some key figures working in this space include Dr. Laura Stachel, founder of We Care Solar, an organization that provides solar-powered lighting and medical equipment to childbirth facilities in developing countries. Another significant contributor is Dr. Vanessa Kerry, founder of Seed Global Health, an organization that invests in healthcare worker training and education in low-resource settings. Some innovative solutions to achieve SDG3 could be found in the areas of healthtech, telemedicine, femtech, and frugal innovation. Telemedicine and healthtech solutions can help bridge the healthcare gap in underserved areas, femtech innovations can address gaps in female healthcare, and frugal innovations can provide affordable and accessible medical solutions in low-resource settings.
Accessibility becomes a key theme for SDG4 as well, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Lack of funding, inadequate infrastructure, and societal attitudes towards education are some of the biggest barriers in achieving this SDG. The resultant educational disparities must be tackled by increasing access to quality education, supporting teacher development and training, and addressing systemic barriers to academic success, such as poverty and discrimination. Notable individuals making an impact in this field include Vicky Colbert, who promotes innovative education models and enhances the quality of education for marginalized communities in Latin America through her work at Fundación Escuela Nueva, and Steve Hardgrave, whose India-based social enterprise Varthana provides flexible loans and other financial products to educational entrepreneurs to build and scale their affordable private schools as well as invest in teacher training.
Some potential innovations to contribute towards achieving SDG4 include behavioral science-backed strategies and addressing the gap between teaching skills and student needs. For the former, gamification-backed EdTech offers opportunities to create engaging and interactive learning experiences that can improve student outcomes. Meanwhile, to address the need for improving teaching motivation and quality, innovative solutions such as teacher training programs that emphasize 21st-century skills and innovative pedagogies, along with collaborative platforms for best-practice-sharing among educators globally, can lead to more effective teaching methodologies and better learning outcomes.
Given the systemic and behavioural nature of the challenges faced in these four SDGs, it is essential for innovators to understand and tackle unfavourable behavioural patterns that perpetuate poverty, food insecurity, and inadequate healthcare and education systems. By addressing underlying societal and cultural attitudes towards these issues, innovators can create solutions that address not only the immediate challenges, but also chart a new path for developing individuals in a way that sustains them.
At the same time, in the quest to work towards the SDGs it is key not to forget the utility of the latest technologies. For instance, AI and big data can be used to analyze and identify poverty hotspots and disease outbreaks, and develop targeted interventions for both. Agricultural technology platforms could also leverage AI to improve crop yields and optimize supply chains for food distribution.
Big data and Blockchain also open up the opportunity to solve the data gaps that often arise in pursuit of the SDGs. Developing big data platforms that track and measure the impact of development programs and provide feedback to policymakers and organizations. For instance, blockchain can be used to create transparent and accountable supply chains and development aid programs, which can help address issues related to hunger, poverty, and sustainability. For example, blockchain can be used to track the distribution of food aid to ensure that it reaches its intended recipients and is not diverted by corrupt officials.
To conclude, achieving the first four SDGs requires overcoming significant challenges through innovative solutions- solutions which not just play on behavioural patterns to change behaviours in favour of the SDGs, but also utilise technology to add effectiveness and efficiency to current endeavours towards the SDGs. The business sector has ample, multi-faceted opportunities to contribute to these challenges. We welcome you to pitch your own solution tackling these issues on a global platform- sign up to Impact Innovator now!