ALLEEM 21 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
By drawing examples from a number of countries, Dr. Rashid teased out the diverse, but intersecting domains of sustainability, emphasizes strategies, organizational characteristics, and personal qualities for action, and established concrete yet achievable targets for the future: Alleem’s 21 Sustainable Development Goals.
The following provides an overview of the Alleem 21 Sustainable Development Goals:
GOAL 1: QUALITY EDUCATION
It is appalling to realize that nearly 103 million youth and children worldwide lack basic literacy skills, 60% of whom are women. Dr. Alleem believes firmly that education is a powerful weapon that can help change the world; however, that education must be ‘Quality Education.’ He states that one must learn, and once you have learnt, teach others in turn, because education is the source of true happiness. He believes that quality education will help bring remarkable developments at all levels of the system, nurturing leadership skills and literacy excellence.
GOAL 2: CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
According to Dr. Alleem, creativity is the ability to develop something new, while innovation is the execution of these creative ideas. He states that every individual in this world has an exceptional gift that is consistent with his philosophy, which rests on his self-coined term, "the CRItRAL thinking.”
This unique blend of "critical and lateral” thinking will not just help people achieve the best version of themselves, but also of their colleagues. He believes that although everyone is gifted or creative, the key focus remains on one’s perception.
GOAL 3: TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT
Technology has become an indispensable part of our lives, as it pervades almost every aspect of our work as well as personal lifes. Undoubtedly, without technology, life would be quite toilsome and onerous. The development of new technology today has helped people in many aspects; it not only saves lives, but also helps people make work easier, and the world a better place in which to live. Technology has opened new avenues in nearly every sector, including education, healthcare, research and energy studies, environment, and travel.
GOAL 4: PEACE AND SECURITY
The world has become chaotic since 2008, with a deterioration of 2.44 percent in the average country Global Peace Index score. Dr. Alleem believes that it is important that we educate our young generation about the Institute for Economics and Peace’s eight pillars for positive peace to create a utopian world that is filled with love, peace, and passion. These Eight pillars include a government that functions well, sound business environment, equitable distribution of resources, acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbors, free flow of information, high levels of human capital, and low levels of corruption.
GOAL 5: TOLERANCE
Millions of people today who live in different parts of the world have been suffering from hate crimes attributable to their caste, color, and creed. Human trafficking is also on the rise and people have stopped feeling the sense of belongingness to the place in which they live. In this growing unrest, we fail to understand that tolerance is acceptance—accepting and rejoicing in differences—and undoubtedly the UAE is one of the major examples of tolerance. In 2016, it created the 1st Ministry of Tolerance in the world and also designated the year 2019 as the "The Year of Tolerance.”
GOAL 6: HAPPINESS
Over the centuries, people have agonized over the question— What is happiness? Is it simply feeling good about oneself? Being rich or being able to afford everything in life? Dr. Alleem, who is often recognized as the Ambassador of Peace and Happiness in the Arab world, defines happiness as the feeling of being relatively content with yourself and satisfied with every aspect of your life. He has contributed immensely to the happiness of the UAE and created a motivational work environment in his organizations. Under his leadership, SEWA was recognized as one of the happiest places in which to work. He believes firmly that in addition to GDP, each country should have the GNH—Growth National Happiness, following the footsteps of Bhutan, which takes the happiness of its population as its growth policy.
GOAL 7: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING
Health is an important facet of sustainable development; hence, to spread awareness of good health and wellbeing, the Alleem R&D center has organized the Rashid Alleem Premier League, or RPL, every year since 2016. This engaging tournament has gained great acceptance now by corporations. In 2020, the RPL was announced as the GCC’s largest corporate cricket tournament.
GOAL 8: WATER SUSTAINABILITY
Water scarcity has reached a critical level. According to UN statistics, only 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources since 1990, while 663 million still have no access to it. Further, at least 1.8 billion people all over the globe use a drinking water source that is contaminated with faeces. Dr. Alleem has worked with various international organizations to find innovative and high-quality solutions for this perilous challenge that the world faces today. To spread awareness of water sustainability on a larger scale, Dr. Alleem organizes Water & Energy week, in which more than 300 participants engage every year. For his pioneering contributions to this sustainable goal, he was also bestowed with the Friend of Singapore Sustainability Award 2017 by the government of Singapore and became a member of the advisory board of the Singapore World Water Council.
GOAL 9: AFFORDABLE ENERGY
With the growing population, the demand for affordable and clean energy sources has also been on the rise. As climate change has affected energy resources, it is vital that we change our ways to achieve this sustainable goal and save our planet. To achieve this, Dr. Alleem was able to position Sharjah globally as a city of conservation. He introduced peak hours between 02:30 to 03:30 p.m. on July 1 every year, and to spread awareness of this initiative, messages were provided through the media urging the public to avoid using appliances that consumed more power during those peak hours. SMS messages were also sent to encourage the people to contribute and participate in this initiative. They created an innovative character called Peak man for the children to take pictures and become involved in this excellent initiative. The ultimate goal of this campaign was to reduce the energy demand by 30 percent during the peak hours. Under his leadership, SEWA has set international records and is recognized proudly as one of the most authentic organizations in the world.
GOAL: 10 ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCE SECURITY
Understanding the direct pressures placed on the natural world, including the water crisis, climate change, and many more, companies across the globe have incorporated the "Go Green” concept as one of their organizational policies, and SEWA is not far behind. Under Dr. Alleem’s