What's Happening

November 12, 2024, New York, New York – Dominican Sisters throughout the world shared in an October 30, 2024, webinar how they and their congregations are working toward completing three of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Webinar host Sister Philomena Benedict Le Gall, OP, of the Dominican Sisters of Stone, England, said the goals, adopted by the UN in 2015, “provide a blueprint for peace,” so that by 2030, poverty will be eradicated and people will “enjoy peace and prosperity.”

Adrian Dominican Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, UN Representative for the Dominicans, introduced the three goals that were discussed in the webinar: No. 3, Health and Well-being for All; No. 13, which addresses climate change; and No. 16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. 

Two other Adrian Dominican Sisters spoke of their work toward achieving one of the three designated Sustainable Development Goals. Sister Marissa Figueroa, OP, ministers in the Philippines as the Director of the University of the Assumption’s extension program with local schools, encouraging them to act against climate change. 

“The University of the Assumption is committed to integrating care for creation in all sectors of the university,” Sister Marissa said. Students recycle plastics and use them as planters, participate in environmental clean-ups, and research natural pest control methods. Through eco-farms in urban areas, students, faculty members, administrators, and families learn and practice sustainable agriculture. Through the food for work program, “participants earn food by working in community gardens and gaining skills in environmental farming,” Sister Marissa said.  

Sister Ellen Burkhardt, OP, of Detroit, works for the achievement of peace, justice, and strong institutions through her involvement with the Meta Peace Team, founded in 1994 in part by the late Sister Mary Pat Dewey, OP. “The mission is to work actively to create a just world, grounded in nonviolence and respect for the interconnectedness of all people,” Sister Ellen said. “We seek to bring peace in areas of conflict.”

Meta Peace Team teaches creative nonviolence, Sister Ellen said. Trained teams are deployed abroad and in regions of conflict within the United States. Wearing yellow vests emblazoned with “Peace Team,” volunteers are present in areas of potential conflict where they are invited, often “quelling any thought of violence” by their very presence and by engaging potentially violent people in conversation, she explained.

Sister Josephine Rose Fernandez Blanco, OP, spoke of how her congregation, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in the Philippines, works toward the fulfillment of SDG 3 through its hospitals, medical clinics, medical mission teams, and homes for elderly and sick Sisters. At a school near the congregation’s hospital, students are trained to “save lives … educate and care for the mothers, deliver babies safely, and follow up 18 months after birth.” In a world where, globally, 800 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth, her hospital offers “healthy pregnancy with little or no deaths,” she said.

“Ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and reduce inequality,” said Sister Maria Yelitza Ayala Gilot, OP, of the Puerto Rico-based Dominican Sisters of Fatima. Now stationed in Maryland, she works toward achieving the third goal through her work in a program that offers mental health, legal, and social services to families living in an area often afflicted by hurricanes and domestic abuse. Women are trained in skills such as baking, computer usage, electrical work, and jewelry-making. “A support network and sharing of skills helps them,” Sister Maria Yelitza said. “We are creating friendships so that the women look at themselves as beloved children of God,” able to care for themselves and their children, she said.

Lara Kelly, a lay woman who works in the justice office of the Dominican Sisters of Cabra in Ireland, spoke in a recorded video of the community’s efforts to address SDG 13. In its 2021 General Chapter, the Sisters of Cabra made commitments to “develop and establish a green policy for the congregation” and to “study new sustainable economic models to help people get out of poverty and prevent further environmental damage.” Cabra Dominican Sisters work in New Orleans, Argentina, and Portugal to teach about cosmology, environmental issues, and climate change through organic farms and climate centers. 

While the webinar focused on only three goals, the Sisters noted that the 17 goals are interrelated. “When you work on one goal, you automatically work on the other goals,” Sister Mari Yelitza said. 

Sister Philomena reminded participants of the urgent need to continue working on the SDGs, which were established in 2015 and have a target date of 2030. “We’re two-thirds of the way through and have only achieved 17%,” she said. “We see amazing work and we pray that this good work continues.”