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Poster showing the icons for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

New York, New York, November 15, 2023 – Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets of the United Nations is a set of objectives that it’s been working on since 2015: its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). That’s one situation that Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Dominican Representative to the United Nations, hopes to rectify soon.

Originally called the Millennial Goals, the SDGs were established in 2015, with the objective of completing them by 2030 – a deadline that Sister Durstyne doesn’t believe will be met. The goals range from No Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Good Health and Well-being to Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions and Partnerships for the Goals. 

“In the United States, most people don’t know what the goals are, and they don’t realize how much we’re each impacted,” Sister Durstyne said. “They’re about us and about our environment, protecting the planet and us. We’re trying to protect the Earth and humanity, especially in peace and security.”

Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, a white woman with straight white hair smiling and wearing glasses and a blue patterned scarf and a blue denim button-up shirt
Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Dominican Representative to the United Nations

Sister Durstyne described the goals as “pathways to tackle the problems of hunger, environmental degradation, and so on.” She explained that each goal includes indicators: areas that need to be addressed for the goal to be accomplished.

“They’re for the benefit of the world, for all countries,” Sister Durstyne said. For example, she said that reaching the goal of Quality Education (No. 4) would ensure that women and girls in Afghanistan are permitted an education, thus helping support and build up their families and nation. But the goal also benefits local children, ensuring they can access quality education. “We have to keep educating girls because they are our future, our hope that this world will become more equal and that we will become more life-giving,” she said.

Sister Durstyne recommended that the worldwide Dominican family focus on Climate Action (No. 13) and Gender Equality (No. 5). “So many of our Dominican Sisters live in Africa, where [women] don’t have any equality,” she said.

She also related a few of the goals to the Enactments that Adrian Dominican Sisters adopted during its 2022 General Chapter. “Our Enactments are in tune with the SDGs,” she said. “Gender Equality is so much in tune with our Enactment on Women. We are trying to bring about gender equality for all women worldwide so that they can exercise their own decision-making and leadership skills.”
 
Three SDGs particularly in tune with the Congregation’s Sustainability Enactment are Clean Water and Sanitation (No. 6), Climate Action (13), and Life on Land (No. 15), which address environmental issues such as forest management, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. The Congregation lives out its Sustainability Enactment and makes progress on the above SDGs through efforts in its Permaculture garden, retired Sisters’ gardens, and recent installation of solar panel arrays. In addition, Brad Frank, Director of Sustainability, often challenges Sisters and Associates in responsible consumption and production (No. 12). 

The Sustainability Enactment calls on Adrian Dominican Sisters to join Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform. This seven-year global program invites Catholic individuals, families, and institutions to work together to build a sustainable future for the world. It builds on Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical (letter), Laudato Si': On Care for our Common Home, which addresses the ecological issues of our times. Sister Durstyne noted that the seven goals of the action platform correspond well with the SDGs.
  
The Sisters also exemplify Goal 17, Partnerships for the Goals. “We have so many partners in the mission,” Sister Durstyne pointed out. “I think we can make people aware by sharing our own partnerships and showcasing what we’re doing.”

While delineating specific, distinct goals, the SDGs are also related to one another, Sister Durstyne said. “If I’m satisfied and not hungry, I’ll be a good student, and my well-being will be better,” she explained. “I’ll be able to work and bring in an income. I’ll be able to help bring about a better partnership. … That’s why we want to decrease hunger and poverty – all of these will help us move forward together.”

Sister Durstyne emphasized several ways that people can help move the SDGs forward. “The most important thing is to have our government get behind it and put in some money behind these goals,” she said. “It’s about financial commitment. Every one of these goals requires a financial commitment.” 

She noted the importance of more prosperous, developed countries such as the United States making a financial commitment to the SDGs so that less-wealthy countries can have some financial support in their work with the goals. That will be addressed at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, Conference of the Parties (COP) 28, planned for November 30-December 12, 2023, in the United Arab Emirates.

Sister Durstyne also spoke of more specific ways that individuals can work toward achieving the SDGs. 

• Commit the 17 SDGs to memory.

• Adopt one of the goals and investigate it to discover the related indicators and how to move the goal forward in your local area. 

The SDGs “are for the benefit of the world, for all countries,” Sister Durstyne said. “So when we do our part, we are helping other countries do their part."

Click on the image below to view a larger version in a new window.

UN poster showing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
 


Participating in a video panel are, from left, Siena Heights students Thomas Lindsey, Tichina Jones, Toni Brown, and Bobby Lindsey, and moderator Kevin Hofmann, right, Director of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion for the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

November 7, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – How do four Black students experience life in the United States and, specifically, in the predominantly white Siena Heights University? A host of experiences, perceptions, and hopes came from a panel discussion, “The World as We See It,” held October 19, 2023, on the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse campus next door to the university.

The event was part of a series of presentations offered by Kevin Hofmann, Director of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion. The series brings speakers of backgrounds different from those of most of the Sisters and Associates – people of different races, ethnic groups, faith traditions, and experiences of gender – to shed light on a variety of perspectives.

Panelists were Bobby Lindsey, a sophomore from Belleville, Michigan, majoring in musical theater; Toni Brown, an exercise science major from Detroit and Livonia, Michigan; Tichina Jones, a former international student from Windsor, Ontario, in her final semester as a graduate student in clinical mental health counseling; and Thomas Lindsey, an art major from Detroit. 

While the students generally agreed that Siena Heights is a welcoming school, they entered into a heartfelt discussion about the challenges they face among peers who are predominantly white. Much of the discussion centered around concerns they regularly face, of which many of their peers were unaware. 

For example, Toni noted her struggle to find hair-care products made for her hair type. Tichina affirmed the struggle. “As a woman, you want to feel beautiful [and] build your self-esteem,” she said. Not having the right products to help Black women feel their best is a challenge that white people need to be “more mindful of,” she said. “It’s really important to us and how we interact in our community.”

Others spoke of the risks they felt in everyday activities. “Even to this day, any time I buy something, even if it’s just bubblegum, I’m always walking with the receipt” to avoid being accused of shoplifting,” Tichina said.

Thomas spoke of learning from his father about protecting himself as a Black man. “If I ever get pulled over [by the police] I always have two hands on the wheel” to avoid a situation in which he can be shot. “It’s pretty tough to be an African-American because you always have to be aware of your surroundings.”

Bobby noted the same experience of always needing to be alert, especially when entering a store or a predominantly white area. “I don’t want to look like I’m doing something wrong or be accused that I’m doing something wrong,” he said. “I’m always aware of that stereotype … so I always keep it in the back of my mind.”

The students also spoke of the burden they carry as representatives of their race – and their struggles to make sure that they are perceived in a positive way. Bobby said that when he attends certain events, “there are certain things that I can’t wear to them or wouldn’t wear to them because I don’t want to be perceived as less professional or less intelligent than my peers. Sometimes, you have to double-check or triple-check what you wear on campus.” 

Tichina said living like this is exhausting. “You have to really think two or three times about how people perceive you on campus, especially if they don’t know you – whatever stereotypes or assumptions they have about Black people. Do I want to confirm these thoughts?” 

However, other students spoke of the positive aspects of being a representative and a role model. “I want to make a difference,” Thomas said. “I want to be the first [in my family] to go to college. I want to show not just my younger family but others – my friends and other groups of people – just keep going, keep looking forward, and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it, you won’t do it, or you’ll never do it.”

Toni said she loves representing her people and her family in particular. “I’m representing my family by making them proud that I can make it through four years of college,” she said. “I love making my people proud, and I love watching my peers proud of themselves – and it makes me happy seeing Black people happy.” 

The students also discussed their perception of race relations in the United States today and whether the situation has improved since their parents’ and grandparents’ time. “I do think the country has changed, but not to the point where race is just obsolete,” Bobby said. “I like to think in this country nowadays that anyone can do anything that they put their mind to, no matter the color that they are … But those systematically built [obstacles] are still there.”
 
Watch the entire video
 


 

 

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