The main objective of the programme was to make the civil society, especially youth, aware of the various facets of Sustainable Development Goals and to encourage and motivate them to contribute a better world through implementation of Sustainable Development Goals at grassroots level – both at national as well as international levels. More than 100 participants, comprising mainly of grass roots level NGO workers, youth and students from different parts of India attended the event. Eminent resource persons shared their views as to how the youth could contribute towards achieving the 19 Goals of Sustainable Development.
The programme was inaugurated by Swami Suparnananda Maharaj, Honorary Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata. Shri Pankaj Madan, Deputy Head – India Office & Head-Programmes, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung extended warm welcome to all dignitaries, resource persons and the participants. Shri Uday Shankar Singh, Chief Controller, Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, shared a brief overview of programme objectives and expectations from the programme.
In the keynote address, Prof. Anand Kumar, Fellow, Indian Institute of Advance Studies, explained the SDGs from the Gandhian perspective and shared with them how the Gandhian way was still relevant in today’s world.
Swami Suparnananda Maharaj highlighted the importance of respecting the nature to achieve sustainable development. He said that if we exploit the nature to achieve development, then the progress that we achieve by doing so, would only be temporary and the end result would not be good for the mankind.
The second day comprised mainly of panel discussions on important aspects of Sustainable Development Goals, including its key components with reference to Asia in general and India in particular, policy interventions on SDGs, role of quality education in Sustainable Development, status of health in Sustainable Development, causes and effects of environmental degradation and role of voluntary organizations in promoting quality education, health and hygiene and environmental consciousness. Eminent resource persons included, among others, Dr. Kavita Sharma, President, South Asian University, Dr. Dilip Ghosh, Ex-Commissioner, Health Department, Govt. of West Bengal, Prof. S.V. Eswaran, Shri Anshuman, Associate Director, TERI, Prof. M.K. Pandit, Department of Environment, Delhi University, Dr. Manoj Kumar, Consultant, NRHM, Prof. Naval K. Chaudhary, Senior Professor, Patna University etc.
All the sessions were highly informative and the participants paid attention to the sessions. At the end of the panel discussion, a theme based performance was given by students of Aditi Mahavidyalaya & B.R. Ambedkar College, Delhi University.
The last session of the programme was a feedback and discussion session, wherein participants shared their learning with others. Shri Ravindra Kumar, Editor & Managing Director, The Statesman, was the Chief Guest for the valedictory session. Shri Kumar appreciated the programme jointly organized by KAS & VYK. While highlighting responsible consumption he said that it was time to implement the learning gained by the participants on ground level. He further suggested that the programme could be developed into a series of events, to ensure maximum impact. Further, Mr. Uday Shankar Singh delivered the vote of thanks.
In his concluding remarks, Shri Pankaj Madan stressed that it would have to be a collective effort if we were to achieve the goals, since no single individual or organization was equipped to achieve all the goals on their own. He further said that unless each individual/organization did their bit, at their own level, our hope of achieving the SDGs would remain only a hope and not a reality.