Zeynep Arslan

The Importance of Universal Actions

  In the globalizing and modernizing world, sustainable development goals have become the focal point for future studies. In this context, non-governmental organizations try to produce projects by adding sustainable development goals to their vision, mission and job descriptions, and by focusing on innovations, producers and developments in ecosystems. In addition, despite the developing technology and modernizing living standards, in the 21st century, finding solutions to problems such as poverty, unemployment, especially the continuing increase in youth unemployment, irregular migration, environmental problems and social exclusion are among the goals of many non-governmental organizations. Although it is the priority of all non-governmental organizations to find solutions to these problems or to try to minimize these problems, many non-governmental organizations have not been very successful in real practice in terms of analytical thinking, being practical in the field, and applying creative and awareness-raising ways. In that sense, in order to be successful in reaching the determined targets, problem solving, strategic progress and being productive will both increase the impact of non-governmental organizations and they will have the chance to express themselves by reaching more people. In this regard, there are several factors at play for the shaping of non- governmental organizations’ activities especially, social media which is another necessity of the age because social media creates a perception about how you do something, to whom you present it and how many people you reach end of the day. Therefore, it becomes considerable for a non-governmental organization to be actively present in social media channels, it is important both to share the projects with the public correctly and to touch the lives of more people, and in today's conditions, social media is often the voice of the people. It is an effective channel to protect the rights of the society and to raise awareness. In other words, the power of social media is remarkable in terms of sustainability and continuity for the continuation of the activities done or to be done for non-governmental organizations. Another important concept for non-governmental organizations is volunteering, because a non-governmental organization is a non-profit organization and the whole process actually progresses, develops and reaches the masses with the volunteers of that organization. What is the definition of volunteerism, is it just to do an action voluntarily without any profit motive, I think such a simple definition should not be made since volunteerism is the most sincere reflection of kindness and the most beautiful form of empathy for everyone in the society where we live. In addition, volunteering is a process that requires effort, time and patience, but other than that, as Elizabeth Andrew said “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” Hence, ın  order to achieve the targeted goals, people who are deeply committed to the institution are needed and this relationship between the organization and the volunteers is again related to sustainability. Sustainable development goals are not only a matter that should be written into the vision and missions of the non-governmental organization or the so-called behaviours and attitudes that we support these goals, but also an issue that needs to be put into real effort to realize these goals on a voluntary basis. In order to implement the sustainable development goals in practice, awareness should be given priority, focus should be placed on well-known mistakes, and in fact, some perception studies should be carried out so that every individual in the society acts with a sense of responsibility for a more liveable future. In this context, in order to take action, non-governmental organizations need teammates who will voluntarily act with the principle of serving the community, apart from their role as an institution.  As a result, all the concepts mentioned above are systematic and planned steps that follow each other and go hand in hand. In this context, the integration of sustainable development goals into social life depends on the project management of the non-governmental organization, its annual reports, social media channels, and the projected progress of volunteering. For a more liveable future in line with global goals, as each individual of the society, we must try to be an active part of this process by educating ourselves individually, thinking more, making more observations and trying to be more productive as the competencies required by the age.

ZEYNEP ARSLAN