In 2015, the member countries of the UN adopted seventeen Global Goals, or: Sustainable development goals (Sustainable development goals - SDGs ), which were preceded by eight ambitious, but difficult to fulfill, Millennium Development Goals. The current seventeen Global Goals represent the common agreement of countries in which direction the development of society should go in order to reduce poverty and inequalities among the world's population, and how long-term sustainable growth and decent living conditions should be ensured. Intuitively live and operate according to the Global Goals

The Global Goals seek to prevent discrimination, protect the environment, sustain economic growth, strengthen freedom and human rights, as well as security and peace. They are obvious, perhaps everyday things and concepts that many of us take for granted and do not think about them more deeply. However, they are not taken for granted everywhere, their observance is neglected or suppressed. This applies to all of us, regardless of which continent we live on and whether our homeland ranks among the so-called developing or developed countries.

Although these are universal goals that concern each of us, the truth is that people in the EU (including Slovakia) have very little awareness of them. According to the results of the European Commission's survey, it appears that roughly a third of citizens state that they are aware of the Global Goals, but only 6% of people actually know and understand them.

However, it is not important to list all seventeen Global Goals by heart. It is better, according to them, the population intuitively works and lives. For example, by sorting waste, buying fair products, recycling products, reducing the consumption of plastic or reducing freons, we are approaching the topics of sustainable development. It is commendable that more and more people are interested in the negative effects of climate change, natural and later humanitarian disasters and the subsequent phenomena associated with it (famine, displacement, conflicts). They try not only to understand the consequences and contribute to their solution, but also to search for and eliminate their causes. Not only young people (often 'enlightened' by foreign experience) want to know what they can do specifically to alleviate poverty, eliminate the climate crisis, end humanitarian disasters and ensure a safe and dignified life for everyone, including peers in the opposite hemisphere. So that they don't have to experience running away from their homes.

That is why Ambrela wants to start a public debate, outline possible actions and involve not only partner organizations (non-governmental organizations or the academy), but also the media and the powerful, i.e. policy makers.

One of the main topics covered by our three-year international project 'Global Goals and Migration' / 'SDGs and Migration - Multipliers and Journalists Addressing Decision Makers and Citizens in the EU', as well as the 'Faces of Migration' (FoM) campaign, supported by European Union funds, is migration. Migration, as a phenomenon that was here, is and will be, and it is impossible to pretend that it is some new or unique phenomenon of Europe of the 21st century. Despite the fact that in pre-election battles the term migration (often in the wrong meaning and filled with misinformation) is used by political parties as a hot card in an attempt to manipulate the prejudices and votes of voters.

Sustainable development of society and migration are very closely related topics. Climate change and intractable poverty in the so-called developing countries of the Global South are the most common factors that fundamentally affect migration around the world - intracontinental and intercontinental (which we most often see depicted in the media). It is a topic that resonates in contemporary European society. The population is afraid of the unknown, and all the myths and untruths about migrants (or rather people fleeing for a safe and dignified life in Europe) published on conspiracy websites confirm them. The public debate on this topic in EU countries, including Slovakia, often has a populist character, it is based on instilling fear and strengthening hatred. There is no space for factual dialogue - based on facts. And on the faces of migration - on specific stories of ordinary people who had to leave their homes for some serious reason and embark on an uncertain journey to a better future.

Cooperation with the media and political entities

As part of our project activities, we will investigate the given state, analyze current studies and create new ones. We are also preparing public events and thematic campaigns (such as the ongoing FoM), confronting prejudices and myths - aimed not only at the young generation in an effort to explain, approach, humanize, grasp and combat misinformation about the topic of migration. We want to show people outside Bratislava how our member organizations implement activities within the framework of development cooperation and humanitarian aid in the countries of origin of migrating people with the aim of creating dignified conditions for life and livelihood for them, so that they do not have to flee their homes at all.

Cooperation with journalists and entire newsrooms is also important, as it will be necessary to ensure more space for global challenges and development topics (such as migration and sustainable development) in the media. We will organize a workshop or a working breakfast, or a journalistic trip to a country affected by migration, where EU funds (or directly from the budget of the Slovak Republic) are directed to solve the situation (e.g. Turkey, Lebanon, Libya). It will also be challenging, but very effective, to address politicians at the national and European level, thus increasing the pressure on their decisions and the fulfillment of the goals of sustainable development. And so that every election campaign does not slip into the abuse of the topic of migration for political purposes.

The project works thanks to the activity and courage of seven European partners

The project 'Global Goals and Migration' / 'SDGs and Migration – Multipliers and Journalists Addressing Decision Makers and Citizens in the EU', as well as the campaign 'Faces of Migration' (FoM), of which our Umbrella for Slovakia is a part, started in March 2019. It was created (and committed to its successful implementation) by seven non-governmental organizations from seven European countries. We are implementing the project with the financial support of the European Union as part of the Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) program. The partners of the project are:

  • Diakonie ČCE (Czech Republic) – transnational project coordinator and leader of the 'Faces of Migration' campaign. A leading humanitarian and development organization, providing aid and support to those in need around the world.

  • Global Call to Action Against Poverty – GCAP (Belgium) – a global association of non-governmental organizations that strives to reduce poverty and inequality in more than 100 countries of the world.

  • BPID (Bulgaria) – Bulgarian national platform, bringing together non-profit organizations that deal with development cooperation.
  • FOCSIV (Italy) – a federation of Christian organizations dedicated to international volunteering.
  • ActionAid Hellas (Greece) – an international organization focused on the implementation of development projects with extensive experience in educational and educational activities.
  • Povod (Slovenia) – non-governmental organization working in the field of development cooperation and global education. Its goal is primarily to activate civil society and strengthen its role in society.
  • Ambrela (Slovakia) – an umbrella organization of 27 organizations dedicated to development cooperation, humanitarian aid, global development education and/or sustainable development at home and/or abroad.

In each country, the project will have its own national form, which will correspond to the local situation and to what awareness the inhabitants of the given country already have about the topics of sustainable development and migration. Completely different (especially in connection with the recent so-called refugee crisis) are our partners from Italy and Greece, who prepared short documentaries about their views on the topic. One concerns the agro-mafia and extortion of migrants on the labor market, the other the status of women (not only migrants and refugees) and their contribution to the domestic economy. We are also preparing short films on this issue in the summer. More about the project and the campaign can be found on the Umbrella website here: https://ambrela.org/projekty/globalne-ciele-a-migracia/

Text: Boba Markovič Baluchova, Photo: Umbrella and the archive of the Faces of Migration campaign Note: The project 'SDGs and Migration - Multipliers and Journalists Addressing Decision Makers and Citizens in the EU' is financed by the European Union's Education and Awareness-raising Program (DEAR). See tu for more information. The author bears sole responsibility for the content of the article, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.