Tagged: SDGs

  • November 19, 2020

    The future of global development: The power of girls

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    COVID-19 has highlighted inequalities worldwide and is showing us that our systems — and the progress we have celebrated — may not be as resilient as we thought. This month’s guest on A Deeper Look podcast, Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), incisively shines a light on the strengths and weaknesses in development work revealed by the pandemic.

    Dr. Kanem is one of the great leaders on the international stage who speaks with moral clarity and forcefulness on sensitive issues of sexual and reproductive health and women’s rights. She discusses the many ways she and UNFPA are meeting this year’s extraordinary challenges and shares her views on the importance of continued progress on gender equality in the face of the issues presented by the global pandemic. Dr. Kanem sees this moment in history as an unexpected opportunity to engage a new generation in finding ways to address systemic barriers to gender equality and social equity.

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  • November 4, 2019

    Building impactful partnerships: What we M.U.S.T. do better

    Written by
    Ricardo Michel, Managing Director, FHI Partners

    This post was originally published on FHI Partners.

    According to Peter Drucker, the noted management theorist, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” When I reflect on my time working with private-sector organizations, government agencies and international nongovernmental organizations — all of which were focused on solving global human development challenges — I recall the common refrain that “we can’t do it alone.” Only by working together do we stand a chance to eradicate poverty and promote prosperity. But sentiment alone is not enough.

    The promise of partnerships has resulted in an active body of work focused on facilitating public-private partnerships and devising private-sector engagement strategies, with the Sustainable Development Goals at the center of this dialogue. Specifically, private-sector involvement is increasingly called upon to drive global socio-ecological change. The increasing overlap between development and commercial challenges provides fertile ground for robust collaboration. However, we need to move beyond the announcements, handshakes and high-level dialogue.

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  • September 18, 2018

    Partnering with a new generation of innovators for social good

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    We know we have to do things differently to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We need new ways of seeing old problems, new skills and methods to direct the technological whirlwind disrupting societies and new ways to muster political will to make hard decisions that challenge old orthodoxies.

    There is a paradox here: At a time when innovation is creating destabilizing change, the key to future stability lies in our ability to effectively harness innovation. But what does that look like?

    Most innovations are spread through traditional commercial channels where one company either develops or purchases the intellectual property or product of another. Commercializing and scaling new products, particularly in the tech sector, has been the driving force in 21st century economic growth. It has improved living standards in many parts of the world, but simultaneously produced growing — and potentially destabilizing — inequality.

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  • November 15, 2017

    A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    This year, I’ve taken A Deeper Look at the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, in conversations with 10 international development leaders. What better way to conclude this series than by talking with Tony Pipa, who was the U.S. government’s lead representative, or “Sherpa,” in the negotiations of the goals at the United Nations. In this final episode of 2017, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the formation of the goals, progress to date toward meeting them and what the future trajectory looks like as we enter year three of the 15-year race to a more prosperous and equitable world. Are we on track? How universal are these goals in reality? Is ending poverty by 2030 possible?

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  • October 18, 2017

    Philanthropy and the SDGs

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    Philanthropy in the United States has traditionally played a vital role as a catalyst of innovation, research and social change in American society. Yet, as the world unites around the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, what role is philanthropy playing to advance the agenda for achieving these global goals by 2030?

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  • September 19, 2017

    Eight takeaways about the SDGs

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    Since January, through my monthly podcast, A Deeper Look, I have engaged in candid, in-depth conversations with leaders on the frontlines of social change to explore what it will take to ensure that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) become a reality. We have examined specific sectors, such as health, education and gender, and have also tackled megatrends in development, such as technology and innovation.

    Each one of the development leaders I’ve talked with so far has provided me with distinct views and fresh ideas on how to understand some of the most complex human development challenges facing the world today. Delving into the SDGs has been stimulating and fun and has produced a boatload of valuable insights. I’ve summarized 8 key takeaways below. You can join in by listening to the entire series on SoundCloud or iTunes and leaving a comment or sharing your thoughts through social media.

    And there’s more to come! We’ll continue to take A Deeper Look at the SDGs through the end of this year.

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  • September 14, 2017

    Tracking media and measuring accountability for the SDGs

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    The Sustainable Development Goals will remain only aspirational if there is no accountability for their implementation. In this episode, I speak with Roland Schatz, a leader in the field of media impact and an expert on the SDGs, on how to create accountability, particularly in the private sector.

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  • August 16, 2017

    A conservative perspective on the U.S. international leadership, foreign assistance and the SDGs

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    In many parts of the world, countries are aligning their national development plans around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In other nations, the global goals don’t have the same moral authority.

    In this podcast, I speak to Dan Runde, a prominent conservative voice in the development community. Dan is the director of the project on prosperity and development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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  • July 12, 2017

    Innovation and scalable solutions to meet the SDGs

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    What drives innovation, beyond the good idea that begins it? What are the obstacles keeping nonprofits from moving from experimentation to application of scalable ideas? What lessons can we learn from Silicon Valley? And how might artificial intelligence affect our strategies for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

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  • June 7, 2017

    The changing face of U.S. foreign aid

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    The proposed cuts to the U.S. development and diplomacy budget may signal a new era in international development. But what’s behind the numbers and what does it mean for U.S. global leadership and for the Sustainable Development Goals?

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