Implementing SDGs by Leveraging Social Entrepreneurship and International Cooperation
The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (SDGs) is too ambitious to be met with traditional structures. International negotiations such as the Paris Agreement have become a strategic tool to achieve foreign policy interests rather than to engage collectively for the benefit of humanity. Resource prioritization by developing countries is based on addressing immediate domestic needs (famine, war, migration, ethnic conflicts) over achieving sustainable development. Some developed countries are directing domestic resources based on populist policies, nationalism surge, and, changing foreign policy order, that has affected transboundary cooperation in implementing the Paris Agreement and SDGs.
Subsequently, long term solutions to addressing SDGs that go beyond short political terms is no longer the order of the day. The resultant global governance chaos, with high levels of unemployment, climate change disasters, urbanization inequalities, lack of access to healthcare, water and sanitation, and, education is resulting in growing poverty, corruption, economic inequalities, conflicts, and lesser political stability, particularly in the regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, of which the youth are the most affected.
There has been a surge in the number of young social entrepreneurs from these regions that are developing innovative solutions to the SDGs. Preliminary evidence suggests them to understand local needs; draw ideas from diverse fields; have high willingness to question assumptions; harness the power of technology; have quick community buy-in of their ideas; provide efficient, affordable and cost-effective solutions which reap high social, environmental, and, economic dividends. Potential to scale these ideas is high, yet, lack of material and non-material resources, including negligible development aid, results in low yield of solutions.
Social entrepreneurship should become the key to rapprochement. There is a need to leverage Goal 17 on partnerships to make young social entrepreneurs the backbone for implementation of SDGs to unlock the potential of innovation for development. Governments, particularly developed nations with a rich history in innovation, in partnership with civil society, private sector, development agencies, and, local authorities, should leverage their extensive international network, resources and expertise to build a social entrepreneurship platform. These partnerships should facilitate social impact investments; the creation of public sector innovation labs; provide social enterprise skills based training; and, enable intercountry and regional cross-exchange of ideas, experiences, and best case practices to help scale and implement solutions at the local, national and global levels.
UNLEASH as the consortium of 1000 such young social entrepreneurs from over 180+ countries, covering all the continents, and with over 200 partners belonging to civil society, academia, private sector, international organizations, is the first concrete vision towards collectively leveraging the power of partnerships in mainstreaming social entrepreneurship for the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
