Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In September 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Member States pledged their commitment to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets intended “to ensure that all human beings can fulfill their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment”. The SDGs reflect a new understanding that today’s health and development challenges are increasingly complex, integrated and interlinked. SDG 3 exclusively addresses health, but health in the SDGs goes beyond SDG 3, with core health issues also residing in other goals. All SDGs influence – and are influenced by – health. Achieving health in the SDGs so that no one is left behind is a central tenet of the SDGs. It requires whole-of-system, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches, which brings together various government sectors, civil society, academia, development partners and communities.

In October 2016 the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific endorsed the Regional Action Agenda on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Western Pacific to guide Member States as they work towards achieving the SDGs.