The year 2020, with all its tribulations, brought forth the "Decade of Action". With just 10 years to go, an aspiring global effort is obligatory to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by mobilising more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all individuals to make the Global Goals their own.

Beginning of 2020 marked an unprecedented epoch with COVID-19. The world has been tussling with the pandemic and its distressing after-effects ever since. The pandemic has wholly exposed fundamental flaws in our global structure. It has shown beyond doubt how the prevalence of poverty, fragile health systems, lack of education, and above all sub-optimal global cooperation, is worsening this crisis.

Tribulations of the pandemic on Global Goals

The coronavirus pandemic surfaced at a stage when the SDGs were getting noble traction and a significant number of countries were making worthy progress in their implementation. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on all 17 SDGs has shown us, that which initiated as a health crisis has rapidly developed into a socio-economic crisis. While this crisis is jeopardising our progress towards the Global Goals, it also makes their realisation all the more crucial and compulsory.

This pandemic presents an opportunity for humanity to act in harmony and turn this crisis into a motivation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

It was back in early March, I took the stage at the WSA Global Congress 2020 in Vienna at the Erste Group Campus. My speech was aimed at highlighting the need for all Technology Entrepreneurs, Social Innovators & individuals to start taking urgent actions associating to the UN SDGs.

I centered my anecdote in the context of the dreadful devastation Australia went through during the bushfire season.

What I tried to accentuate on, is the influence we all have as individuals to take Simple, Viable, Micro Actions to tackle problems of global scale, without waiting for Governments and large organisations to come up with costly, time consuming resolutions.

Immediately after the completion of WSA Global Congress, World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. In a few short weeks, we entered a crisis unlike anything most of us have ever seen before. It’s uncanny how the world has changed over the past 6 months from the world we knew back then, to what it has become today as a result of COVID-19.

Global Goals can provide a passageway out of the COVID-19 aftermath, while securing an economically and environmentally healthy future for our world.

A transformative retrieval from COVID-19 should be pursued, one that tackles the crisis, lessens risks from future potential crises and relaunches the realisation efforts to deliver the 2030 Agenda and SDGs during this Decade of Action.

According to the United Nations, the Decade of Action should primarily focus on:

• Creating a persistent global force devoted to the SDGs.
• Mandate urgency and desire to achieve the Global Goals.
• Amplify ideas to solutions and cultivate sustainable digital innovation.

When it comes to sustainable digital innovation, it's vital to focus on identifying, acknowledging & empowering them. This is where global initiative of the World Summit Awards (WSA) comes into the foreground.

The World Summit Awards (WSA)

WSA is one of the most impactful Global Networks operating in more than 182 United Nations member countries, since 2003.

It originated in the framework of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (UN WSIS) and it contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) agenda by recognising local digital content with positive impact on society, demonstrating the richness and diversity of innovative applications.

My involvement with the WSA goes many years back where I once got selected as a WSA Winner. Over the years, I have experienced how WSA has become a Global Hub for everyone who values the crucial importance of local innovations to make today’s information society more inclusive.

WSA gives the opportunity to digital innovators from over 182 UN member countries, to showcase their ability to exhibit positive Social Impact, by affiliating their work to the 17 SDGs.

The 2030 Agenda is a roadmap for the world we all envisage. Actions we take now will testify to the effectiveness of our response to Global issues that the 17 SDGs are trying to solve by the year 2030.  Our actions today need to be synchronised globally towards the Decade of Action.

by Sachi Wickramage

COO & CPO at i4Tradies | Member of the Grand Jury for World Summit Awards (UN-WSIS & UN-SDGs) | Strategist | Mentor | Product Design, Product Development & Product Management Consultant | HCI, UCD, UI/UX & CX Specialist