Highlight 13/2025: How can we shift towards a more collaborative approach to the SDGs? The case of Mohale’s Hoek, a town in the Kingdom of Lesotho
Sekatle Sekatle, 21 February 2025
As the target to achieve Sustainable Development Goals draws ever closer, global leaders are under pressure to deliver tangible results by 2030. “In 2024, the world was 17% on track to achieve the 2030 Agenda”. The Prime Minister of Barbados challenged world leaders on how the world is at a dangerous fork in the road questioning them on “how many more crisis and natural disasters should there be before we see that all conventions mean the assistance don’t reach those who need it the most and are most vulnerable”. Even though this number is very low, there is an opportunity for world leaders to shift focus from pessimism to cooperation optimism. This means, it may be time to highlight the 17% achievements at the grassroots level, ensuring the vulnerable see the progress in their respective countries. This could pave the road to achieving greater success as they take full ownership of the goals.
The picture above is a town called Mohale’s Hoek, a town in the Kingdom of Lesotho. I will guide you through this picture to illustrate the importance of the 17% in real life application. Imagine Lesotho educating the children in this picture on sustainability and how it impacts their daily lives. The same children will gain appreciation and ownership of the SDGs and will build the legacy to shape future world policies.
Behind this photo, three SDGs emerge: the SDG 3, meant to achieve good health and well-being for all, the SDG 4, which refers to quality education, and the SDG 17, focusing on fostering partnerships for the goals.
Lesotho already offers free primary and secondary education, but the access to renewable energy equally presents a good opportunity for the schools to deliver innovative education and digital education through Information and Communications Technology. This achievement will allow the students in this picture an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to participate in global governance processes and promote sustainable development. This investment is critical to future agendas such as the African Union Agenda 2063 in order to transform Africa into a global powerhouse, allowing the children in the picture to champion the initiative and build a more resilient, competitive, and thriving Africa.
However, the success of Lesotho and Africa cannot be thought, without achieving universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. The renewable energy assists the community in Mohale’s Hoek to achieve this objective by utilizing renewable and reliable wind energy, to provide 24hr energy to the clinics, and serve the local community.
The picture also shows the SDG goal 17.6; knowledge sharing and cooperation for access to science, technology and innovation. This has been possible through the EU external energy policy and particularly the Africa-EU Green Energy initiative.
This is a success story for SDG implementation. Through Hirundo Energy, a Belgian engineering company and its wind turbine expertise, Lesotho will soon be able to harness its wind potential, which will allow the country to realize 15% of its energy need.
Sekatle Sekatle, Highlight 13/2025: How can we shift towards a more collaborative approach to the SDGs? The case of Mohale’s Hoek, a town in the Kingdom of Lesotho, 21 February 2025, available at www.meig.ch
The views expressed in the MEIG Highlights are personal to the authors and neither reflect the positions of the MEIG Programme nor those of the University of Geneva.