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The UN SDG Action Campaign in Bonn

25.07.2017 - Article

The Global Campaign Centre in Bonn opened in March 2017. A large number of visitors recently had the opportunity to learn about the work of the global campaign. The aim is to involve the public actively in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With the support of the German Government, the UN SDG Action Campaign opened its centre in the historical Haus Carstanjen in Bonn at the beginning of March 2017. Even before the official opening visitors had a chance to tour the office space, which is supported by the Federal Foreign Office and decorated in the bright colours of the SDG campaign. The visitors were able to learn about the wide range of the global campaign’s activities.

Involving the public in implementing the SDGs

From left to right: Ashok-Alexander Sridharan (Mayor of Bonn), Jürgen Hein (Land North Rhine-Westphalia), Mitchell Toomey (Campaign Director), Rajeb Boulharouf (UNCCD), Cyrill Nunn (Federal Foreign Office), Niels Breyer (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)© Ina Fassbender/photothek.de

The SDG Action Campaign is a special initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. It is run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The campaign will help the UN and its member states to publicise the SDGs and involve the public in their implementation.

The SDG Action Campaign’s Global Campaign Centre will be located in the same building as the United Nations System Staff College’s Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development, thus creating synergy and cooperation between both organisations, whose work is focused on the SDGs.

Mandate of the UN SDG Action Campaign

A large number of visitors travelled to Bonn and learned about the work of the UN SDG Action Campaign© Ina Fassbender/photothek.de

The Global Campaign Centre will be a strategic hub from which the Action Campaign will carry out its complex mandate, with the aim of informing people about the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015. The idea is to encourage people to take action, build networks and set a good example. Visitors were able to experience the work of the campaign via virtual reality films, the new survey MY World 2030, which will chart progress in achieving the SDGs, as well as a photo exhibition on the SDGs and analysis data in illustrated form.

Bonn: a hub of sustainability

Campaign Director Mitchell Toomey: “The establishment of the Global Campaign Centre in Bonn is testament to Germany’s unwavering commitment to the SDGs.”© Ina Fassbender/photothek.de

Mitchell Toomey said: “The establishment of the Global Campaign Centre in Bonn is testament to Germany’s unwavering commitment to the SDGs and the international quality of Bonn as a UN city and a sustainability hub. The Centre will equip the Campaign to deliver on its mandate to foster buy‑in of the SDGs among all stakeholders, facilitate mechanisms for public engagement in SDGs participatory monitoring and accountability, and create an open and inclusive SDG people’s action platform. We look forward to working side by side with our neighbours in the Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development of the UN System Staff College and the broader UN Bonn family.”