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24 September 2024 marks the United Nations’ annual SDG Moment. The Summit, held during UN High-Level Week each year, gathers world leaders together to workshop transformative solutions for tackling the world’s ongoing and preventable crises including poverty, hunger, and other inequalities.
The SDG Moment is designed to accelerate progress towards the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are “an urgent call for action by all countries” to partner globally to take active steps towards implement “strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth,” especially for those most in need.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world,” penned Holocaust victim, Anne Frank, before her capture and subsequent death at the hands of the Nazis in 1945. Despite facing the horrors of the Holocaust as a young Jewish girl in hiding, Anne Frank’s enduring hope and belief in the power of individual action continues to inspire people the world over.
Today, her words resonate powerfully with the spirit of the SDG Moment, reminding us that no matter the challenges we face, each of us has the capacity to take action to contribute to a more sustainable and equitable world.
SSE is fully committed to pursuing environmental, social and economic sustainability through all facets of our organisation, a commitment that enables us to work responsibly towards several targeted SDGs, namely:
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
By 2030, the UN advocates for “all men and women [to gain] equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.
Similarly, that their “exposure and vulnerability to…social and environmental shocks and disasters” be limited.
SSE champions entrepreneurship as a catalyst for economic independence. Through our inclusive programs, we provide individuals, particularly those from low socioeconomic and historically underserved and underrepresented communities, with entrepreneurial skills to uplift themselves economically.
By equipping learners with tools to create businesses, access funding, and navigate dynamic markets, SSE directly contributes to breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering economic resilience.
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
This goal calls for inclusive and quality education for all, particularly focusing on technical and vocational education to increase relevant skills for employment and entrepreneurship.
Education is at the heart of everything we do at SSE, and we strongly believe in the power and importance of lifelong learning. It’s why our Strategy 2023-2026 centres around making entrepreneurial education accessible to diverse communities of learners including women, Indigenous Australians, and those from regional and other historically underserved communities and areas.
Through co-designing educational experiences and entrepreneurship programs with a growing network of partners, communities, and supporters, we can provide all our learners with practical and sustainable pathways to lifelong learning.
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 5 focuses on ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and to ensuring their equal rights to economic resources, financial services, and technology.
SSE prioritises gender equality by ensuring that women and girls have equal access to entrepreneurship education. We create inclusive learning environments that address gender disparities and encourage women of all ages to develop the skills needed to build confidence and financial literacy, and succeed in business.
We are proud to have helped guide many women towards self-empowerment and self-employment, like Indra Mckie and Soo Lee, who both completed our Startup Success program in 2024. Also this year, we developed our Startup Success for Women program, tailored to the unique needs of women, wherever they are on their entrepreneurship journey.
When women are empowered to have their own voice, agency, and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels of society, everyone benefits. SSE strives to open up fresh pathways for women's economic inclusion and investment, and accelerate progress for women and girls everywhere.
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
You might wonder, what does “decent work” really mean? It’s simple. Decent work means ensuring every person has an opportunity to obtain work that is productive and which delivers income and workplace security.
To enable this, SSE strives to foster economic growth by supporting entrepreneurial mindsets in our learners that fuel innovation and a drive to create bigger, better lives for themselves, their families and communities, and the world around them.
By promoting vocational skills, digital literacy, and sustainable practices, we empower learners to access – and in many cases, self-create – decent work, further contributing to economic resilience and inclusive growth.
One of the sub-goals of Goal 8 is that by 2020, globally, we should be seeking to substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training.
At SSE, we believe in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit in individuals from a young age. Our programs for young people are designed to inspire, empower, and excite the next generation, providing them with the skills and mindset needed to thrive in life and work in the 21st century.
Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 10 calls for reducing income inequality by promoting social, economic, and political inclusion globally and regardless of background.
Reducing inequality in these systems is an important driver for SSE. All of our programs are created to help uplift and inspire marginalised and underrepresented groups including Indigenous Australians, CaLD communities, women, and young people.
By providing access to quality education and mentorship, we promote the social and economic inclusion of individuals who have historically faced barriers to employment and advancement. Our mission is to empower all learners with the skills they need to thrive, helping to close the gap between our learner communities and the rest of the population, “irrespective of [their] age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.”
