Sustainable cities and climate projects must integrate the needs of disadvantaged demographics. The online forum Urbanet for sustainable urban development has pleaded in an article on its website for the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to serve as a yardstick for this. This framework ensures that cities take into account the living conditions of all demographic groups, but in particular those of the poor, women and migrant workers. The SDGs were drawn up in 2016 and apply to all countries.
However, even in countries which have signed up to implement the SDGs, these disadvantaged groups continue to slip below the radar. This has been shown on the website of the digital blog Urbanet. Using Vietnam as an example, Urbanet has revealed how the difficult living conditions for migrants went unmentioned by the Vietnamese government in its SDG Report before the High-Level Political Forum of the UN. “Overall, the report fails to highlight how significantly migrant women workers are deprived of economic power, social rights and participation”, Urbanet explains.
In contrast to the information collated and presented by the governmental authorities, ActionAID Vietnam has developed a solid basis for this subject based on the research it has conducted. Its studies reflect the actual issues and needs of people. It is therefore an important step in the right direction for ActionAID’s contribution to have been the very first from civil society to receive official recognition. After all, the Urbanet article explains how it is “only by integrating SDG indicators into the development process and allowing them to navigate our journey will we realize the goals we committed to, while we make sure to leave no one behind”.
