Quality education and reduced inequalities are just two of the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which the Internationaler Bund (IB) is also committed to achieving.
On October 24, the United Nations (UN) celebrates its 80th anniversary. Today, it counts 193 member states. When it was founded in 1945, the goal was to create a new, stronger world organization to safeguard fragile world peace. Today, peace is understood not merely as the absence of violence but also as the respect for human rights and the pursuit of sustainable development.
With the 2030 Agenda (adopted in 2015), the UN established a clear strategy for implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In a time of growing global challenges – from inequality and migration to climate change and digital transformation – the SDGs serve as a shared roadmap toward a fairer and more sustainable future.
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally
The Internationaler Bund (IB) links its educational, social, and integration work with these sustainability goals. It follows a holistic approach that connects social, ecological, and economic dimensions and strategically embeds the SDGs across the entire organization.
Through schools, training programs, and voluntary services, the IB promotes quality education (SDG 4) and creates fair employment opportunities through qualification measures (SDG 8). Integration courses, counseling centers, and housing projects foster social participation and combat inequalities (SDG 10). At the same time, the IB is committed to sustainable consumption and climate protection through energy-saving initiatives, waste separation, and environmental education (SDG 12 and 13).
By forming partnerships with municipalities and NGOs and by promoting democracy and human rights, the IB strengthens peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16 and 17).
The IB makes the UN’s goals tangible in people’s everyday lives. Sustainability, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence do not begin in New York but right where the IB is active — locally, in the communities it serves.
Thiemo Fojkar, Chair of the Board of the IB and active member of the German Association for the United Nations (DGVN)