Slide 1

The Sustainable Developmet Goals is a result of over two years of intensive public
consultation around the world with particular attention to the voices of the poorest
and most vulnerable.

Slide 2

It is a plan of action to improve the quality of life of the people, protect the planet,
and to promote peace and prosperity.

Slide 3

The pledge of the Sustainable Development Goals is to promote inclusivity.

Integrate those people who are marginalized, oppressed, and deprived.

Slide 4

It follows the 5Ps framework of Sustainable Development. It reflects that to be able

to achieve sustainable development, all sectors should converge in rallying
programs for People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership.

Slide 5

The People cluster focuses on 5 Global Goals specifically goals on

poverty alleviation,
food security,
universal health,
quality education,
and gender equality.

Slide 7

The Planet cluster focuses on 6 Goals.

These goals promote
clean water and sanitation,
clean energy,
responsible consumption and production,
climate action,
healthy oceans,
green forests.
Slide 26

The Peace cluster (my SDG) promotes

peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development,
aims to provide access to justice for all
and
build effective,
accountable
and inclusive institutions at all levels

Slide 27

Partnerships cluster aims to ”Strengthen the means of implementation and

revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Slide 28
65 out of 169 targets refer to young people. Specifically, these targets focus on
youth empowerment,
participation
and well-being. (explain a little bit how the goals and targets work)

Slide 29

The youth plays a significant role in achieving these 17 Global Goals.

We have the capacity to empower people to accelerate the achievement of our

Global Goals.

We can rally sectors to end poverty,

have food security
and quality education
and even fix climate change.

We can organize campaigns to inspire the youth to transform our world.

Our force can open and create wider civic spaces as inclusive platforms to share our
stories and empathize with the oppressed sectors of our society.

Slide 34

The 2030 Youth Force in the Philippines is a community of youth advocates that
empowers Filipino youth and cascades the Sustainable Development Goals in the
grassroots levels of society

Ang pinaka adhikain ng organisasyong ako ay kabilang ay maibaba ang SDGs sa mga
local na comunidad. I think ang isa sa pinakamalaking challenge ng SDGs is because
it came from the UN and UN is such a huge entity, big deal and people often get
intimidated with the UN concept and this is what YFPH wants to shatter. We want to
be able to translate to the local communities how basic the SDGs really are. How
little actions contribute to the fulfillment of the 2030 goal.

Before I go on to my chosen goal, I want to show you a creation of the United

Nations… it is wonderful montage of people you might know introducing the global
goals. And as we do not have the time to go through each and everyone of them and I
cannot leave this place without at least opening your eyes to what each of the goals
are, please listen very carefully to what they have to say.

*show We the People video

Did you guys like it?

Do you wanna belong to the it group of SDG advocates?

Slide 38

When I was drafting my speech, halfway through I realized that I have not
introduced myself and so this is the exact part in writing where I decided that it is
about time that I tell you guys a little about myself.

I am Cha de Vera, 22 years old, and am currently a law student and also the
ambassador for Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

My dreams are anchored mostly on 2 things. First is on a huge wooden table with
cookies and juice, alternately known as the table of an ambassador --- this first
anchor… I saw when I was around 6 and we visited the Indonesian embassy and I
decided, without even knowing what an ambassador does, that I want to be one… all
because I liked his office and the perks that came along with it.

The second anchor would be when my Papa and I were driving home from swim
practice and I saw people living under the bridge on stilt houses.

By a dirty river.

With garbage all around.

And I remember asking “sino pwede tumulong sa kanila?”

Papa told me “lawyers do”

To this date, that was my first recollection of the word lawyer.

Both my anchors were formed when I was around 6 or 7 years old. After knowing
what it takes to be an ambassador and going through the everyday struggle that is
law school, I am still firm on my dreams that I want to be both. And between 7 years
and 22 years old, I have with me 15 years of really knowing what it takes to be what
I want to be.

But more than actually knowing the job descriptions of my chosen fields, it is in
finding out the deeper struggles that people go through because of the non-
adherence of others to Peace and Justice that made me embrace this advocacy more.
Our World CAN and MUST do better urgently.

Around half of the world’s poorest people currently live in conflict areas and
unstable states. And when we specify these areas, it is not necessary that they are
solely at war. Conflict areas and unstable states may be those with high levels of
criminality, high levels of human trafficking and violence.

Extra judicial killings? Religion based violence? Rebel armed conflict?

Now, does this sound too much of Philippines, without prejudice of course to the
good facets of the country.

My SDG is composed of three separate facets.

Slide 39

First. PEACE. Sounds so simple right? A bullet proof answer to ms. Universe
pageants.

Slide 40

I want to direct your attention to the following images. A terrorist and at its roots
are discrimination, hatred, poverty… factors that make even the best men
vulnerable. And that is what extremists prey on.

Slide 41

Do you guys know that they have a very very very good network. They have good
marketing. And they have on their teams psychologists, doctors, lawyers,
professionals that enable them to be so effective with their goals. Of course, kawawa
tayo and it is to the detriment of humanity but really, their organizational
structures? Excellent.

I got to hand it to them, they are committed, committed into making everyone
succumb to what they want and they even train kids from a very young age to be on
their side of the narrative. Very dedicated.

Slide 43
And that is why we have to counter those ideals, we have to be better than they are.
We have to be even more dedicated in fighting against their cause, in fighting for the
greater good of humanity

And believe it or not, the greatest fight that we can give rests on the youth, on the
children,

they will be
you will be
we will be

the ones who are going to carry on the torch to 2030 and pass it on to the next
generation.

Early as now, we must build a culture of peace, we must be proactive citizens. So

being a proactive citizen means combining your

Slide 44 and 45
Knowledge (this is what you know about other cultures, beliefs and way of
thinking.
Skills (how you react and respond to such knowledge)
Attitudes and behaviors (how you hone your relationships with others)
Social Action (What you contribute to building a better society)

And these hopefully will pave way for a generation that understands that

Slide 46

Differences can be reconciled

Being muslim is not equal to terrorism

That your skin color does not determine what is your intellectual capacity

That where you come from should not be a hindrance to what you can achieve in life

Hopefully it will be a generation that does not tolerate violence,

A generation that lives out the value of peace in their everyday lives.

Slide 47

This set of pictures are some of the memories that I have when I went to study in
Singapore for one term. I was with Indians, Chinese, Indonesians, Malaysians, Dutch,
Vietnamese and other Filipinos on what I would call one of the most pivotal
journeys of my life. They became some of bestest friends. Those months and the
years up until today that followed, they are a testament to the value of unity, of
cultural appreciation, of respect. They forged my belief in the capacity of human
beings to love despite personality, cultural and religious differences.

Slide 48
Second. JUSTICE.

We are lucky and thoroughly blessed that in normal circumstances, we have rights

Rights that protect us as human beings

Rights that protect the ecology that we so blatantly rely on

Rights that ensure we make the most of our time here in earth

Those in war zones and conflict areas?

Not as lucky.

Their rights are infringed upon,

Violated

Slide 49

BUT the ironic part here is that human rights are also violated in times of peace and
these I think are the scarier ones. People in conflict zones are hardened by the fact
that their normal is soldiers running outside their houses, rifles in hand. People who
live in what we’d call as safe areas, they are not as braced for human rights
violations, for conflict as those who grew up around the same.

Over the past few months, we have seen the news filled with haunting corpses of
men and women with cardboard signs on their dead bodies.

“drug addict ako”

“Nanlaban ako”

and so on

During the presidential campaigns, I feared for a Duterte presidency but in the
middle of my fears lies a promise that he would wage war against drugs and
criminality. In the middle of my apprehensions about him, I gave him a chance
because I thought he would prey on the ills of society and in doing so, pave way to a
better Philippines.
And prey, he did.

To some, he is paving the way towards a better nation but I did not expect that drug
pushers and drug users (some only alleged, at that) would be treated like glorified
road kill.

I did not expect that while known personalities have publicized and lawful trials, the
masses would be cowering in fear on the streets waiting for a gun shot or knife stab
to their selves before they can even utter a word.

So one of the questions that might be running your head is how do we get past
issues on justice when we are not even part of the judiciary, when we are not
lawyers or law enforcers?

My most favorite part about SDG # 16 is that it is very value based and the simplest
help that anyone can do starts within themselves.

Ignorance of the law excuses no one. Everything that you need to know about what
you can do, what you must do, what you must not do is in our laws,

Slide 50

so know your rights, that is very basic.

Know your rights so you can help others if needed. Know your rights so you do not
find yourself or your loved ones in a position that someone can take advantage of.

Know your rights and strive to make our justice system a better one, so that future
Filipino citizens can put their full trust on it if only for the reason that there is so
much that the law can offer, so much that I have yet to see.

AND LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST

Slide 51

STRONG INSTITUTIONS

Institutions that are effective, accountable, and inclusive.

One of the biggest challenges of SDG 16 is how it is to be implemented.

A serious commitment to implementing Goal 16 will need to rest on five legs:

Slide 52 and 53
1. Fostering bottom-up empowerment;
2. Supporting homegrown institutions and reformers;
3. Facilitating selective decentralization;
4. Harnessing the power of technology; and
5. Following through on universality.

Each of these five principles has its own complex compelling logic, but taken
together they represent an agenda that favors building inclusionary processes and
strengthening grassroots advocates and organizations over applying technocratic
quick-fixes, the traditional “politicking” that we have been forced to get used to.

Yes, all the SDGs are important

but it is in SDG 16
particularly in building strong institutions
where the rest of the world can be ensured that
progress and prosperity are running parallel to each other.

We, the youth, must rally towards filling up positions in organization, in the
government, in startups, in companies and be the agent of social transformation that
our society needs. Be our voice wherever you end up working in. Make sure, or at
least try to make sure, that in doing what you do no one gets left behind, that
everyone is being accorded fair opportunity and that you are working towards the
fulfillment of the 2030 global goals.

Before I wrap this up, I want to show you guys a video. In my college days, this
would be the time that I would really wake up. I hope you guys enjoy.

*show video of No Point Going Halfway*

There is no point in going halfway.

There is no point in my 30 minutes or so of rambling here about things that I am

passionate about if you do not respond to the call,

if you do not, in your own way, do something about the cause.

I understand that not all came here with the Sustainable Development Goals in mind
and it might seem like The Global Goals

are too heavy, too impactful to take upon yourselves

and so only governments, international organizations and world leaders could take
the burden on their shoulders but the thing about those entities is that they are
made up of individuals

Like you and me

The people who we see on TV, those that we see on the field, those that we think and
know are making waves to see the fulfillment of the 2030 goals could have possibly
been

a student struggling with academic deadlines,

an educator making sense of teenage angst,
a youth leader fighting for what he or she believes in.

Before coming here, I specifically asked for who I am going to be talking to,
I tried to profile you guys so I could tailor what I am going to say in accordance with
your purpose here in this auditorium.

Kung bakit ba kayo pumunta dito

Or

Kung bakit ba kayo pinapunta ditto

Ang sabi saken it is to raise awareness, it is to share with you what the Sustainable
Development Goals, more specifically what Peace Justice and Strong Institutions are
and I was told that you guys are student-leaders
So that means kayo ay mapekalam, may malasakit to serve other people, the
immediate communities that you guys are in.

Kayo ay may pakealam at nangengealam. And to a certain extent kayo ay

pinapakealaman or should I say kayo ay nababagabag, nababagabag kayo na
tumulong, na baguhin ang kayang baguhin para sa ikakabubuti ng nakakarami.
And that is the thing about the Sustainable Development Goals. It is not necessary to
be big shots, to be scientists, or lawyers or doctors or renowned graphic artists, or
celebrities to do something.

Slide 54

You just have to care.

17 ang Global Goals.

Slide 55

You just have to choose one. You just have to start with one.

One that you feel most passionate about.

One that you feel like you can work with to see its fulfillment.
Slide 56

Because after having a choice, everything follows. Having an advocacy will never
become easy but once you make your choice your purpose, the work will not feel
like work at all, the effort will not be maddening, you will enjoy what you are doing
and the successes of others that are in your fight would also be your successes.

And that is one of the most beautiful things about the SDGs --- at its very core is that
No One Gets Left Behind. You have the capability to be an agent of social
transformation, to make sure that every person has a fair opportunity in life no
matter who or where they are, to help those that are furthest behind.

You can be part of the Youth Force in the Philippines. You can be the changemaker
that your country and this world needs.