Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as Global Goals, has been adopted by consensus in the United Nations Conference in September 2015. Officially known as “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” SDGs is a set of 17 “Global Goals” with 169 targets between them, which aims to create a sustainable society.Its predecessor, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the target date of 2015, focused mainly on social issues in the developing countries. However, the concept of SDGs differs in that all global citizens, whether in developed or developing countries, be committed to these goals. Moreover, it states that the contribution by not only governments and nonprofits, but also business is important to realize the goals.
Each goal of SDGs is extremely important given the size of the vision and its impact, but, among them, we, Cross Fields, especially believe in the importance of Goal 17, “Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.” A success of sustainable development agenda requires partnerships across Public, Private and Social sectors. These inclusive partnerships, built upon principles and values, shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the core, are needed at the global, regional, national and local level.
According to Joseph Nye of Harvard’s Kennedy School, “Tri-Sector Leadership,” which plays an active role across Private, Public and Social sectors, is vital in accelerating the solving of social issues across sectors. Those who have experiences working in multiple sectors, and understand the “language” and context specific to each, are going to create the future of the society. Starting our Corporate Volunteering Program(CVP), we believe that the programs of cross-sector and cross-boundary experience are a great approach to produce tri-sector leaders in Japan and the world, who understand the importance of social impact.
And the value of our activities as Cross Fields does not stop there. Through multiple projects, we promote the advancement of issue-solving by NGOs and Social Enterprises using the resources of other sectors, as well as the balancing of both social issue solving and creation of economic values by corporates. Through these actions, we hope that we can move a step closer to a world where many leaders active across border will enhance the entire society.
We, Cross Fields, commit to the realization of Goal 17 of SDG by bridging people across different fields of sectors and boundaries.