“Good Policy Requires Better People. Policy is a personal commitment, not just an institutional one.
It’s not just about our agencies, it’s about us."
Dr. Robert Zuber, Director of UN-based Global Action to Prevent War and Armed Conflict
Self Awareness is our capacity to reflect on our ways of being and behaviors and align it with our internal standards and values, as well as to reflect on the degree to which our social environments support us in this goal. This involves focusing on one’s internal states, preference, resources and intuitions as well as on the world around us.
Personal Agency is the capacity of an individual to take responsibility for personal thoughts, words, and actions in their lives as well as to taking action to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
*Our definition draws from the work of Duval and Wicklund’s theory, and Goleman’s definition, of self-awareness and Riane Eisler’s work on cultural and personal transformation.
What is the Purpose of SDG+1 ?
Policy is personal, not just institutional.
The purpose of SDG+1 is to highlight the role of the individual in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The more our values, behavior, and choices are in alignment, the greater ease we will have shifting our world to one of care, partnership, and interconnectedness. The 17 SDG's are ambitious. To accomplish any one of them in a swift and regenerative manner, we must accept our own personal agency, which can only be understood through the lens of self-awareness. SDG+1 will enable us—from the ordinary citizen to global leaders—to focus on shifting from marginalization and asymmetrical power structures to those that are inclusive and support environments of equality.
How will SDG+1 be monitored and measured?
Using a technology platform that predicts outcomes and impact, we will be measure each of the 17 SDGs through what the Center for Partnership Studies refers to as High Value Human Capitol. Through the lens of Social Wealth Economic Indicators, or SWEIs, we will assess key indicators of Social Wealth and Growth such as: benefits of investing in mindfulness practices and emotional intelligence, caregiving, early childhood education, care for the elderly, preservation of natural environment, and sustainability efforts.
How will SDG +1 be implemented?
There is no shortage of organizations and institutions committed to addressing this area of work in every country. We are inviting Member States, policy makers, NGO's, government officials and individuals to recognize this critical and missing goal as significant to accelerating the rest of the 17 Goals. SDG +1 addresses our human condition, the social wealth and health of our world depends on balanced, healthy people. This Goal ultimately will put the power in every one of us on the planet.
Please help us distinguish this Goal as a critical addition to the SDG's to accelerate the overall success of organizations, institutions and people at work to accomplish each of the 17 Goals.
