Achieving the SDGs requires national ownership. This workshop, which is undoubtedly the beginning of a training process for civil servants, will facilitate the implementation of the SDGs in Togo.

It’s like a first-hand experience. Some of the diplomats really played important roles in negotiating UN conflict resolutions and the SDGs. They shared their own stories of both their personal and professional lives.

Suddenly, the UN international dialogue was something that I was talking about with people, and they were keen to be involved, to support, and to learn more about it.

Once industrial facilities start to introduce and submit their PRTR, they will be much more aware of their pollution and emissions and consequently more interested in investing in greener technologies for their facilities, which contributes to sustainable development.

We saw a need for a change of attitude so we began to identify local opportunities to strengthen social cohesion and to build capacity in our own communities.

I was a middle-class family child and during my upbringing, I saw many young people in my community whose parents struggled with paying their school fees, especially those for high education. I used to ask myself ‘what can I do to help people achieve their dreams?’

The UNITAR training took place just one week after his first session as a UN mandate holder — the youngest person ever appointed to a UN indigenous-specific mechanism and with the least amount of international experience. “There was no accommodation time, as the work of mandate holders is very responsible and challenging, and indigenous peoples around the world expect results and efficiency from experts.”

The green economy concept in Mongolia connects heavily to the herding communities, where natural resources (pastureland and water) and the environmental challenges, and human development are the key areas of the ‘green changes’.

In West Africa we are a community of countries. Learning about the goals of other countries helped us to figure out our priorities, we can’t develop our private sector just for us.

Everything I learnt in the module helped me to understand the European system and what was needed for a partnership and cooperation to exist between Europe and Africa.