Global Goals - the world's new 'to do' list

By Gavin Crowden, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at World Vision UK

Last week global leaders, Hollywood stars and even the Pope joined together in New York to celebrate the new global goals for the world.

Think of these goals as a 'to do' list for the world:

• End extreme poverty.

• Tackle inequality and injustice.

• Fix climate change.

In all, there are 17 goals and they make for quite a list (I won't even mention the 169 targets and indicators which sit underneath these!) They are known in development jargon as the 'Sustainable Development Goals'. These goals are certainly bold and ambitious, particularly as governments around the World have committed to achieving them by 2030.

And World Vision UK has been there at the table, helping to shape the goals throughout the long process of getting these agreed. We have championed children to be at the heart of the new goals and to ensure that when governments commit to 'leave no one behind' they really mean it. For us, this means getting to the hardest to reach children who often live in the toughest places on Earth.

Over the last 15 years these children have been too often missed and overlooked, too easily forgotten and left out. For too long the international community has walked by on the other side of the road. We simply cannot - we simply will not - let that happen again.

This commitment is set out now in Goal 16 - to build peaceful societies. This is so important to us and the children we serve, as we seek to reach children in the most fragile places on earth. Last year 87% of the 5 million children World Vision UK reached lived in such places. And we can be proud that it was the UK Government who championed this goal through tough international negotiations.

Of course the trouble with 'to do' lists is that writing them doesn't mean they'll get done - it's the action they inspire that does.

So when I think about the global goals I don't think about the glitz of New York summits , though they have their place. I think of the hard road ahead as governments, UN agencies, charities, World Vision and so many others prepare to meet the challenges laid down by the goals.

Even more than this, I think about the people I've met whose lives and futures will be touched by the goals. Syrian families I've met - living in building sites in Lebanon, trying to find a safe place to sleep for the night; children in Malawi - too tired to go to school because they've worked so hard in the fields since before dawn; children in Nepal - who lost everything and everyone, in this year's earthquake and are just starting to rebuild their lives.

These global goals are for each and every one of the children I've met, every child supported by you and every child to be born over the next 15 years.

We want everyone in the world to know about these goals and how we're aiming to make them happen.

And you are already a part of this. As you've read this far you know enough to share this with your friends, tell your families. Feel free to watch and share this inspiring short film below about the goals.

As for me, I'd better go - we have work to do...