By Jaideep Singh, THIMUN Qatar Executive Team member
The UN, with a vision to achieve a more sustainable future and a better world by the year 2030, has established the 17 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). Out of these, I personally believe that SDG 3- Good Health and Well Being- is the key to the success of all the other goals in the true sense. And for this goal to be successful, the involvement of the youth is imperative. With this prospect in mind, the THIMUN Qatar Executive Team has begun an initiative to educate the youth of Qatar about the SDGs, and one of the initial glances of which was the workshop at the Qatar National Library on the 14th Of November, led by myself alongside the Deputy President of the General Assembly for TQ 2019, Tianne Pane, advocating for SDG 3 in the State of Qatar.
The workshop was intended to help the youth of Qatar understand the relevance of SDG 3 in the region, and the various forms in which it needs to be achieved. There was an initial discussion on the global prospect of the goal, followed by a discussion specific to Qatar, with the core issue of the SDG being the large numbers of deaths caused due to road accidents. Some of the minor issues discussed included obesity, Vitamin D deficiency, poor mental health etc. Participants actively participated during the course of the workshop, particularly in the segment of the case studies of Aspire Academy(A school in the region with facilities to support student athletes and exercise for Qatari youth) and the diabetes camp led by Y.H.Naomi (an Indian student in Qatar). Such a wholesome perspective on the SDG, followed by discussion on indicators, trackers and finally the use of the MUN Impact Tool intended to help participants plan on how to go about and initiate service projects based on SDG 3 in their own communities and schools.
The workshop culminated with an activity involving the use of the Planning tool by all participants to draft their own service project, followed by a discussion at the end on the ideas each participant had thought of. Some great ideas came through, ranging from measures to target substance abuse, to ways by which road accident and subsequent deaths may be tackled.
The session was truly a memorable one, and I feel honoured to have had the privilege of leading it alongside Tianne. Such initiatives are greatly effective in ensuring better youth involvement for a more sustainable future, and other schools, communities and student leaders should also be a part of such events, in order to truly bring out what the youth of today has to offer toward building a sustainable Earth.