Sustainable Development Goal 16 is one of the goals set by the United Nations after the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015). These goals call for eliminating poverty, inequality, and climate change and protecting the planet’s resources by 2030. Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for peace and justice along with strong institutions.

Its importance comes from the fact that it complements the rest of the goals to achieve a sustainable future and peace for the Earth. Though, many societies still suffer from problems and crises based on failure to achieve peace and justice. Within this goal, we find many sub-goals set by the United Nations as a way to build peace and justice. At Uplifting Syrian Women, we strive to achieve even a part of these goals in our journey toward sustainable peace.

Sustainable Development Goal 16

Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals includes:

• Achieving justice for every individual in society. 
• Building peaceful societies free of war, arms trafficking, and all kinds of intimidation and fear that may threaten the individual within the community. 
• Additionally, it calls for establishing effective institutions subject to laws and regulations. [1]

As our world is divided between regions that live in peace and stability, and others living within an endless cycle of wars, conflicts, and instability. Therefore, the United Nations set this goal to complement the rest of the goals and a condition to achieve the promised development.

The Importance of Sustainable Development Goal 16

This goal constitutes an important point among the group of other interrelated goals. Without peace, security, and human rights, the world cannot achieve sustainable development.

We find that many countries that suffer from poverty and hunger lack peace and citizen justice. Thus, the access point of financially sufficient and stable societies requires an impulse of peace. It is felt by the individual living in a society based on justice, guaranteed by institutions managed by law. Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for:

• Ensuring all individuals’ access to justice.
• Establishing communities that do not marginalize anyone.
• Peace must accompany all classes of society, and not marginalizing vulnerable groups is one of the solutions to achieve peace.

Problems that stand in the way of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16

Insecurity, access to justice, and weak institutions remain major obstacles to achieving sustainable development. These numbers express the crises and conflicts experienced by individuals and societies:

• The number of people fleeing wars and conflicts exceeded 70 million in 2018. This is the highest number recorded by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) in nearly 70 years.
• 50% of the world’s children are exposed to violence every year, and every 7 minutes a child is killed because of violence.
• Only 47% of African children have their birth registered, while the rest are not.
• The percentage of detainees who have not been sentenced reached 31% of the prisoners.
• 1 in 10 children is sexually abused before the age of 18. [2]

Sustainable Development Goals for Peace

Everyone can contribute and participate in achieving the global goals of peacebuilding. Here are some of the principles underlying Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals:

• Radically reduce all forms of violence and resulting deaths.
• Stop exploitation, trafficking, and torture against children.
• Build effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels.
• Reduce the spread of bribery and corruption in all its forms. 
• Provide legal identity for all, including registering all births.

Global Awareness Towards Spreading Peace and Justice

Everyone is becoming aware of the role of peace in building strong societies. Many countries organized conferences and lectures to promote peace and security. The United Nations established the International Day of Peace on September 21 of each year. It called for ceasing fire in all countries of the world for 24 hours. It condemned racism, as it spreads hatred and inequality between people. [3]

The Stockholm Peace and Development Conference is held annually. The conference focuses on transforming the human security crisis into an environment of peace.

At the Arab world level, the UAE has launched many initiatives to address global security challenges. Such as Urban Planning Manual for Security and Safety; Through this guide, the process of establishing safe and secure urban communities is directed and organized.

Sustainable Development Goal 16 emphasizes the need for peace for all. It also stresses the need for justice to be served to them through strong institutions that guarantee their rights. This is to advance societies and achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Our initiative always calls for the revival of peace for women and all individuals in society.

♀️ Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative aims at sustainable peace building in Syria through targeting women and providing them with free online courses, workshops, discussion sessions and trainings, with a view to achieving the goals of Gender Equality, Quality Education and Decent Work and Economic Growth, which all fall into the interest of society as a whole and serve the purpose of rebuilding it.

Also read:

• Sustainable Development Goal 13.
• Sustainable Development Goal 14.

• Sustainable Development Goal 15.

References: 

[1] UN Chronicle

[2] Joint SDG Fund

[3] UN Observances