 The STGs, as you read them out, speak about poverty, hunger, health, education, gender, they speak about clean water and sanitation, they speak about affordable and clean energy. When it comes to affordable and clean energy, you realize right now the world is transitioning into cleaner sources of energy that reduce the pollution that is caused, that brings about global warming, that has adverse effects on our environment. Basically, all aspects of our lives are enshined in the sustainable development goals, even picking up from number eight, which is decent work and economic growth. Currently, most young people do not have sustainable ways of earning a living, and the STGs come as a guideline to ensure that even the opportunities that come about from the different sustainable activities that we engage in actually provide decent work that provides income to the people involved, not only young people. I came across someone during a sustainability event yesterday, and he told me why are we focusing on young people, yet the STGs also involve everybody. The thing is, we all, they affect us all, however, for champions for STGs, we are a youth-led organization that focuses on young people. However, when adults express interest to participate in our sessions, we actually welcome them to join and be part of it because we acknowledge that they also have experience working in the different areas of specialization and we can tap onto that, and that is where STG No. 17, which is on partnerships, comes in to speak about partnerships for the goals. We are able to benefit in one way or another. They can benefit from our innovativeness to come up with current solutions that solve current issues. However, they are also able to assist us with the wisdom of experience in certain areas related to the STGs. Currently, we have a global concern on climate change, and that is addressed under STG No. 13, which is climate action. This is one of the major issues that the things that we do, even when we are at home, actually contribute to adverse effects to the climate. It seems like we might actually get into a place where the future generation has been compromised. When you look at the definition of sustainable development, it speaks about being mindful of our actions right now so that we do not compromise the future generations. So, how can one, in participating in the STG for climate, how can we be mindful of that as a youth? How can we participate in that? So, there are many initiatives one can participate in. They can be planting trees, they can be being mindful of usage of, for example, single-use plastics. Recently, we've seen that our country banned single-use plastics, which usually end up in oceans, endangering the lives of marine life and even affecting one of the other STGs, which is life below water. So, there are basic things that you can do at home. You can do things like reusing the tins that you buy, for example, if you buy a plastic, an item that was packaged in a plastic material that can be reused for something else, you can reuse it for that. So, that contributes to the circular economy. There is a concept called the circular economy whereby something can be reused or actually you can use certain things to do other things that can be of benefit to you, to earn an income or do other things. Now, how is tech and STGs related or what is the role of tech in promoting sustainable development goals? All right. Tech falls under STG No. 9, which is industry, innovation and infrastructure. Let me take you back to when the COVID-19 pandemic came into the world. It actually accelerated technology for everyone and the uptake was really fast. You saw how we were able to transition from physical activities to virtual activities, things which didn't used to be possible. People were able to actually do them and even at a lower cost sometimes, where travel was involved, booking of resources and so on. So, technology has come in that way to connect the world, to provide a platform where young people can innovate. And they can, for example, earn something from their innovations. And also, let's look at education, for example. Again, because of the pandemic, people were able to start learning online, doing virtual classes, for example. Yes, I know in our continent we have a challenge of infrastructure and that is something else that we need to address. Infrastructure in terms of devices to connect people to the internet. There is that challenge and if we can address that challenge, we can be able to tap into the power of technology because we've seen it through those devices which are available. Those people were able to access technology, actually got more connected, were able to access resources, were able to learn and do so much more. For example, at champions for STGs, in March 2019 when we started, we used to do physical activities in town until 2020 when that time came we had to transition to virtual activities. So, that is when we discovered the platform which we used to zoom whereby we could even get the text appear on the screen for people, for example, who cannot hear and be inclusive of everyone else. So, that also speaks about SDG number 10. So, when we came back into the new normal, we adopted a hybrid model whereby people can join virtually or they can come physically. In case you are a speaker, you can speak from where you are as long as you have a device and a connection to the internet. Same goes for our participants, you can actually join from anywhere. And now what has so far, because some of the things we have seen in tech, we have AI, we have internet of things, we have blockchain technology, how have they helped? Those, if you look at innovations that come as a result of those they can be used as a source of income for the innovators, they can be used also for connectivity. Basically, the solutions or the items that you mentioned about technology, they contribute to helping things happen, for example, faster and more conveniently when it comes to even payments that happen electronically. So, technology has improved the speed of doing certain things and making, for example, things that used to be done physically that cause pollution, they no longer happen. So, you realise the levels of pollution come down. Okay, but still as people say that also technology is causing harm to the environment, like blockchain technology for instance, the machines getting into the ocean and everything, it's causing harm to the environment. So, how do we as much as we embrace it and put it in part of the goal, how do we prevent it from getting out of hand? Alright, thank you for that. So, when it comes to electronic devices, we are all advised to be mindful of how we dispose our devices when they are no longer useful because you realise that electronic waste sometimes if disposed carelessly can become a hazard to different people. So, who stay close to the dump sites, for example, if it's batches, if it's things that certain metals or things that do not easily decompose, they can cause physical or even slow health issues to people who stay close to places where they are disposed. So, there are some initiatives that have come up with a way of recycling electronic waste. Sometimes even the manufacturers of the devices advise people to return those devices which are no longer useful. So, there are those simple actions that you can take as a citizen, you can be mindful of how you dispose those devices, you can reuse them or if they are still active, still useful, you can give them to people who can use them. So, basically reduce the disposal, be mindful of how we dispose that and even when we are acquiring the devices, let's see whether if we really need it and then use it well and then at this days there are things that for example electronic devices which can be charged. If you remember there used to be batches or cells that are used in electronic devices such as computer mouses for example, but these days you see that they are rechargeable ones. So, you can consider options that are more sustainable instead of buying those cells which after some time you dispose, they are going to become a hazard, they are going to pollute the environment. Instead you can consider buying something that you can recharge. So, that is something more sustainable. And somewhere on your website I read that you are very passionate about SDG number 4, quality education. Why? I'm very passionate about quality education because I think it's the foundation of all the other goals, of the things that we are able to achieve through all the other goals. If we are not aware of how the, for example of the importance of coexisting peace free with our neighbors, with other neighboring countries, with different people, that is addressed by SDG number 16, we would end up being in chaos. If we are not aware of eating healthy for example, we are going to end up sick or end up with sometimes lifestyle diseases. So, education kind of forms a foundation for me for us to be able to achieve all the other goals. If we are aware of the importance of respecting diversity, we wouldn't bring about inequalities in how we treat others. This is addressed by SDG number 10. And still on education, what do you say about the new statistics that Kenya is ranked number 3 globally with the highest number of teenage pregnancies with 98 teens getting HIV infections weekly? So, basically that means that if we are having high rates of teenage pregnancies, that means that possibly there is no information on ways, on how people can take care of themselves, be mindful of the actions or acts safely in case they engage in security. So, for instance, if there is an issue with new HIV infections, there are methods that can be used to reduce those, for example by educating the youth on why it's important to either behave responsibly as young adults. Okay. So now, in Kenya, what are some of the wins that we have had with the SDG goals? What are some of the things that we are aware of ahead in terms of achieving? And what are some of the things that we still fall behind and we need to put more efforts into? Yes. Thank you for that. So, as a country, we've been able to achieve quite a number of things. And mainly it's because of multistakeholder partnerships. I've happened to be part of the multistakeholder's engagement that is concerned with the sustainable development goals. And this involves other sectors such as the private sector, academia, other civil society such as us. The SDG is a unit by the government and even the media. So, as a country, our country has reported during the high-level political forum. So, what happens when evaluating the SDGs, member countries of the United Nations ask to report on their progress on achieving the goals during the high-level political forum which happens in New York every mid-year. So, our country has reported twice. So, that was in 2017 and 2020. In case you are able to access the internet and then you search for voluntary national reviews for Kenya, you'll see two of them. So, those ones share progress that our country has made. So, there are other countries who have reported more times, others less times. So, where we are at, I have seen that there have been multistakeholder partnerships towards the SDGs. I've also seen that different stakeholders are aligning themselves towards the goals and I'm happy about this and I encourage everyone else to actually align themselves towards the goals and look at the specific targets and see how you can contribute to the progress that we can make towards that. There is still so much more to do. Even when it comes to 2030, I'm not certain whether we'll be able to achieve all the targets. However, we are optimistic that when it comes to that time, we'll have made significant progress towards the goals. There is a lot that has been done. However, there is still so much more that we can do and especially if we can do it together. Alright. So, now I want you to tell us, as we come to a close on this particular conversation, you're very knowledgeable about these SDGs and you're very passionate about them. So, what is your story? I know the story about this book. So, how did you come to be a champion for SDGs? So, that was in 2017. 2017 I attended a workshop. It was about media. It was about communications for civil society organizations and speaking about issues of reproductive health. And after this workshop, the facilitator had two of those booklets and she requested that she can actually award one of those to one of the participants who will give a good reason why they should be given the booklet. Two people raised their hands and spoke ahead of me. Those were adults. They gave their reason. When it came to my time, I was the third person. I raised my hand and then said, that time I was 21. I was a few years. I just passed my adolescent years. In between 21 to there? Ya. So, I told them, I'll be here long enough to see the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development coming into actualization. So, I deserve this booklet because I'm the youngest person who gave the reason. I got the book straight away. I went and shelved it. Mostly when we go to workshops and conferences, sometimes we get those reading materials and then we shelve them. I did exactly that for a year. In March 2019, I kind of was disappointed with the internship that I was doing. I was not absorbed and I was looking for something meaningful to do and while looking through my stuff, I came across that booklet. I read through it. I found the issues very current and I thought, why not come up with an initiative to educate other young people like me on this agenda? That is how I brought together three of my colleagues. So, we were four in total. We sat somewhere on the grass and then we planned out what we'd like to do with the SDGs. We organized our first meet-up session as a team and then we organized information sessions there on, generally speaking about the SDGs and then later on we continued to host many more physical sessions, webinars and later on hybrid events on sessions on the SDGs. Wow, amazing. I just love how you've been able to keep this book for... Yeah, I love that book and I'm going to keep it so well because it always reminds me of where I have come from. Finally, why are you so passionate about this goal, the SDG goals and why does the person watching you right now need to be a part of the initiative? First of all, I happened to be a young person when I came across this and they felt something that I have a mandate to actually do something about it. Even though I know I have studied technology, now that I'm so passionate about this, I went and did so much online courses where I accumulated knowledge on this topic. I would like our viewers to also, in case you'd like to learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals, you can check out globalgoals.org, read about them and also during our upcoming information sessions for the SDGs, we usually give out the SDGs booklets such as the one which I'm holding right here. This one we've approached the State Department for Planning which houses the SDGs unit and they were kind enough to give us these booklets which they have with them. And these booklets have a summary of what the agenda is, the goals and they also have the 169 targets. So they also speak about follow up and review and different mechanisms that happen at national, regional and global levels. So you might think that the SDGs are far off, they have nothing to do with you but the SDGs are part and parcel of your life. So get to know much more about them and align yourself to the goals and let's together achieve a sustainable future. Amazing. So where can people get you if they want to reach you over your organization? Yes, if you go to Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook you can search for art champions number 4, SDGs and then you will come across our page which is called Champions for SDGs Youth and myself you can find me on LinkedIn, my username is Arnold Gekongi. Thank you very much Arnold for coming and sharing great light on the SDGs. Thank you so much for having me with us. Alright, so that has been Arnold Gekongi who is a champion for SDGs and you can get them on social media at this handle. Champions number 4, SDGs and of course we have been talking about SDGs and how they benefit us and how we can be part of this great initiative, right? Yes, so that's the end of sport on tech but we are just starting. Valentine will be coming with some great entertainment interviews. Don't go too far.