UN Sustainable Development Goals: Their relevance to RENATE’s work in Advocacy, Lobbying, Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Direct Action, and Prevention.

• SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
• SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
• SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• SDG 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all
• SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• SDG 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
• SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
• SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
• SDG 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• SDG 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
• SDG 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
• SDG 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
• SDG 17: Revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. (25-09-2015).

Context.                                                                                                             
Agreed by 193 world leaders in 2015, the SDG’s are a 17-point plan and call to action to end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality. Agenda 21 (adopted at the Earth Summit,1992) identified 9 sectors of society as the main channels through which broad participation would be facilitated in UN activities related to the SDGs, as follows;

• Children & Youth.
• Indigenous Peoples.
• Local Authorities.
• Workers and Trade Unions.
• Business and Industry.
• Scientific & Technological Community.

Inspired by its Mission, RENATE members ‘’…work in all areas of anti-trafficking, from victim support, healing and reintegration, prevention, to education-awareness, advocacy and campaigning for legislation which will combat this modern-day slavery.’’ (Agreed Mandate, 2^nd European Assembly, Rome, November, 2016).
With membership in 27 different European countries, RENATE’s Goal is to respond, in the light of Gospel values, to the issue of trafficking and exploitation of women, children and men. While national economies throughout Europe have been slowly growing, countries are still vulnerable to global commodity price fluctuations, unstable labour markets, social exclusion, migration flows, natural disasters, environmental
degradation, conflict and civil unrest. Each of these brings greater risks to the vulnerable and provide ideal circumstances in which the trafficking and exploitation of persons prevails and thrives.       
The RENATE Strategic Plan integrates the SDGs into its work as it focuses on key areas of awareness-raising, advocacy, education, training, prevention and partnerships, including poverty alleviation, social inclusion of vulnerable groups, local development and mutual understanding.  
A sample of RENATE’s activities in Advocacy, Awareness-raising, Prevention, Campaigning and Direct Action at local, regional, national and international level, illustrates how RENATE’s work is directly reaching out to the SDGs. While RENATE activities involve the 9 sectors of society, there is a special emphasis on the participation of women, children and youth, in partnership with other NGOs and always including indigenous peoples. 
Each RENATE member country participates and contributes to RENATE from their respective capacities. Reflecting their various disciplines, some members take an academic approach through ongoing research and presentation of factual evidence. Their research features in on-line and oral/aural media platforms, the Press and social media (The Tablet, KANA (Croatian Journal) and on-line journals such as the Global Sister’s Report– GSR-, the National Catholic Reporter –NCR- and Independent Catholic News-ICN); BBC radio, Radio Vaticana and TV 2000, Roma.
Other members draw upon their personal experiences and story, with a focus on SDG 3 through working in spiritual direction and mission amongst those on the streets who have been trafficked into forced begging and/or prostitution.
Production of resources such as Prayer Cards, PowerPoint presentations, Film and Annual Reports, together contribute to a corpus of knowledge that is shared throughout the membership and beyond, by means of the world wide web. 
The work of RENATE extends forward in time as the network endeavours to cast a light on the darkness of the root-causes of human trafficking and exploitation. SDGs 5, 8 and 16 are implemented through the work of advocacy and awareness-raising activities at local, regional, national and international events. RENATE is active cross- culturally in the following ways:  rescue-work cross border; cross border counselling of victims in trauma; attendance at OSCE training events and conferences; the EU Civil Society Platform against Trafficking in Human Beings; the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the European Community, and innumerable cross culture training programmes for its members.  
In keeping with the mission to uphold the dignity of the human person and sustainable development, RENATE engages in prevention initiatives.  RENATE members in Albania, the UK and the Ukraine have initiated the following: home gardens, horticulture, card making, candles, soap, tailoring and agriculture businesses. These effectively contribute towards the implementation of SDGs 1, 2, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 in the local situation where the members work with those, most vulnerable to being trafficked and in alleviating terrible poverty, which is their plight.
RENATE’s actions illustrate its commitment to global partnerships, as the means by which collective responsibility and collective wisdom prevail in the efforts to deliver on SDGs 16 and 17. RENATE members participate in Public Policy Exchange (PPE), through attendance at its conference ‘’Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe: Towards Better Social Cohesion and Tolerance in times of Austerity’’.  Presentations have also been given internationally e.g. at the UN by RENATE President, Imelda Poole, IBVM, on ‘’Ending Human Trafficking by 2030: The Role of Global Partnerships in eradicating Modern Slavery,’’ and again at the UN CSW60, with a paper presented by RENATE member Lynda Dearlove, rsm, entitled ‘’Pastoral Care of Women and Girls on the Street,’’
Campaigns such as the UN GiftBox, events to honour St. Bakhita’s Day, availing of training such as that provided regionally by ERSTE, the provision of training to its members and the organisation of the RENATE European Assemblies, illustrate the extent to which RENATE continuously pursues active engagement with its membership, the private sector, civil society and citizens alike, in order to bring an end to human trafficking and exploitation.
Through its explicit mission, RENATE is implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
 
Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications Person. 31/01/2017.