This Global Goals Week 2018 we're joining the United Nations and partners from around the globe to drive action and raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs, agreed by all 193 UN Member States in 2015, call on governments, businesses and civil society to achieve three extraordinary things by 2030: end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and halt climate change.
Meeting the goals by 2030 will require an unprecedented effort and we all have a responsibility to play our part. At CWT we have chosen to focus on six of goals where we believe we can maximize our impact.
- SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Beyond our focus on providing support in Emergencies and Essential needs, our 3E community involvement strategy seeks to promote educational projects through teaching, training and research. Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improve people’s lives, which is why we continued to run several educational initiatives in communities around the world in 2017.
- SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls.
We promote gender equality and equal opportunities for all through our own actions, and in partnership with our stakeholders. We recently created a global diversity and inclusion taskforce comprised of passionate individuals from around the organization.
As well as supporting global events and initiatives such as International Women’s Day, we became a signatory to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles on International Women’s Day in 2018.
- SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Decent work and economic growth are key pillars to global prosperity. We aim to provide quality employment and contribute to economic growth in the countries in which we operate through our Human Resources and Human Rights efforts and business performance. We comply with the International Labor Organization (ILO) Fundamental Principles and respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as set out in our Code of Conduct. Both CWT’s Diversity and Inclusion, and Anti-human trafficking global taskforces, sponsored by Executive Leaders, help us take further action on these topics.
- SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
All of us must hold ourselves and our colleagues accountable to high standards of conduct and maintain a zero-tolerance stance to any forms of discrimination or harassment.
Our Human Resources and Legal and Compliance teams run non-discrimination campaigns for all employees through our social intranet.
- SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
We extended our environmental reporting campaign in 2017 to improve how we calculate our emissions and raise advocacy through an Environmental Awareness Week. We also continued to encourage local and global environmental actions such as promoting environmentally-friendly offices, encouraging waste management and recycling and offsetting emissions from key events.
- SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and strong institutions at all levels.
Without peace, stability, human rights and effective governance - based on the rule of law, we cannot hope for sustainable development. Our Code of Ethics states our zero-tolerance stance on bribery and corruption, and that we adhere to all local and regional regulations required. In 2017 we ramped up efforts to tackle the challenges of human trafficking. As well as creating a dedicated anti-human trafficking task force, we continued to contribute to charities, speak at events and global conferences to raise awareness.
To find out more about our initiatives addressing the SDGs, read our Annual Responsible Business Report.
