San Juan , Friday, NOVEMBER 17, 2023 | ThePuerto Rico Community Foundation (FCPR) today unveiled the first Puerto Rico Local Voluntary Report which analyzes the current state of the archipelago in the face of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global call presented by the United Nations (UN) as part of its 2030 Agenda, broadly committed to sustainable and inclusive development that seeks to combat poverty, protect the planet and promote the enjoyment of peace and prosperity for all people.
The report, produced with the support of Mott Foundation and whose researcher was Dr. Palmira N. Ríos González, seeks to become a reference for public discussion on the country's main challenges: poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, climate change, energy and economic growth, among others. In addition, it presents the 17 SDGs, framed by 6 pillarsThe main objectives of the project are: people, social rights, planet, prosperity, peace, and alliances, a structure that serves as a strategic framework for the development of initiatives from institutions and organizations, focused on sustainability and inclusiveness.
View the Local Voluntary Report
“We were able to produce the first Puerto Rico Local Voluntary Report, The report is driven by the philanthropic sector and with input from the community sector. With this report, FCPR joins community foundations in the United States that have adopted the SDGs to frame their work plans,” he said. Mary Ann Gabino, The project was managed by FCPR's senior vice president, who was in charge of project management from the Institution.
The document, which gathers data and information from government sources, journalistic investigations and reports from community and non-profit organizations, reveals in a single document the situation of Puerto Rico in relation to the SDGs.
“The poverty rates, the food insecurity experienced by part of the population, the prevalence of racial gaps in homelessness, the decline of our student population, the environmental impact of climate change, increasingly affecting the most vulnerable, and the inaction of governments, even when there are laws and regulations that are not enforced, are very alarming. On the other hand, it fills me with hope to recognize what the community and non-profit sector is doing to bridge the inequity gaps that exist in our communities. The report presents you with these two variants,” said FCPR's president and chief executive officer, the Dr. Nelson I. Colón Tarrats.
The scheme of the six pillars comes from a report prepared by Community Foundations of Canada. These, in their report, used five pillars; the Puerto Rico report added a sixth pillar focused on social rights, as emerged from the interest of those consulted. Thus, the six pillars are presented as follows: people, to ensure equity and inclusion; rights, to rescue social rights; planet, to strengthen resilience and environmental sustainability; prosperity, to promote economic development; peace, to demand a government capable of guaranteeing security and justice; and alliances, to convene a multi-sectoral alliance to promote sustainable and inclusive development.
“The report presents strategic lines of work that could facilitate the development of a country project that upholds the principles of equality for all people and protection of our territory. It offers us evidence of the social resources available to promote a new agenda, resources that favor collaboration between the public, business and non-governmental sectors,” said the Dr. Palmira N. Ríos González. “More and more organizations are seeking to integrate the SDGs into their work plans, recognizing that they are a framework with international reference. The Puerto Rican people recognize that we need a new model of sustainable and inclusive development, and the SDGs offer us that opportunity,” he added.
The Report provides some recommendations, highlighting the creation of a multisectoral alliance to facilitate a Country Agenda that nurtures and is nourished by the implementation of the 17 Goals for Puerto Rico. This would seek sustainable and inclusive development that integrates economic, as well as social and environmental issues - the government of Puerto Rico has not formally embraced the SDG agenda.
The document was presented today at the Meeting on the Sustainable Development Goals, sponsored by the FCPR and the Mott Foundation, and held in the Sacred Heart University, in San Juan. The event was attended by representatives of entities that implement or are interested in implementing this framework in their areas of action. The meeting provided a series of group sessions so that people could discuss the pillars and their objectives in depth. The input gathered will be included as part of the Report, whose aspiration is to be presented to the UN Economic and Social Forum in 2024.
The drafting of the report required: data collection, survey of non-profit organizations on the SDGs -66 organizations responded; multi-sectoral meetings and identification of priority areas for Puerto Rico. To access the Local Voluntary Report for Puerto Rico, please visit www.fcpr.org o https://www.fcpr.org/puerto-rico-acoge-dialogo-sobre-los-objetivos-de-desarrollo-sostenible/
Since 2022, the FCPR initiative educates, collects and disseminates information on the SDGs. The plan has included a series of podcasts, under the name Towards a sustainable and inclusive Puerto Rico, in collaboration with El Nuevo Día and ENPR with Luis Alberto Ferré Rangel. In addition, the website https://www.fcpr.org/puerto-rico-acoge-dialogo-sobre-los-objetivos-de-desarrollo-sostenible/ presents relevant information on the Sustainable Development Goals and a questionnaire for those who wish to share their work within the framework of the SDGs. In that year, the FCPR was also a finalist in the System Changes Awards 2022, in the category of Donors and Leader in Alliances, an annual award of Catalyst 2030.
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