What if we don’t achieve the SDGs because we are, simply, too talented?

Let’s think about it for a moment.

We have the will, the expertise, and all the development strategies.

What if we don’t achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) simply because we are, in the end, too educated, too competent, too connected… and in the end, too much of everything at once?

To understand what I mean, let me paint a picture of the generation of future global health professionals that some, myself included, belong to.

We are bilingual, sometimes even trilingual. We have the degrees. We’ve interned at Gavi, consulted for the WHO, hosted webinars on ethics in data collection, and campaigned vigorously for our (declining) mental health. We switch between Excel, Stata, Canva, and Google Drive tabs as if it were second nature. True Swiss Army knives: analyzing data, planning conferences, curating donor relations… but half the time, we can’t really explain it really is what we do. This is no accident.

My generation is, simply, multipotent. However, I’d argue that we are as scattered as we are talented. Perhaps that is our real collective obstacle: the overabundance of potential that needs to be channeled.

We often find ourselves flooded with possibilities, but with no clear direction, other than to survive socio-economically and mentally in a world dominated by polycrisis. 

Before going “beyond” the actions of the SDGs, we must ultimately start at the grassroots level, locally: in our neighborhoods, our classrooms, with our friends and our partnerships, where all this talent has an immediate impact. In this way, our diverse abilities and passion for local activism, food security, equitable health care, and gender justice will be carried forward by a generation that, to paraphrase French rapper Diam’s , « parle fort et elle vit à bout de rêves » (“speaks loudly and lives on the edge of dreams.”). 

The SDGs are, of course, global goals, but they can only be achieved if we act at the local level. A famous african proverb wisely says: « Il faut d’abord balayer sa porte avant de regarder celle de son voisin. » (“You must first sweep your own doorstep before looking at your neighbour’s.”)

This local refocusing is possible. Here in Montreal, a colleague and friend led a project between December 2021 and August 2022 on vaccine confidence among adolescents, working directly with parents. They created and tested concrete tools in local schools and had a clear, immediate and documented impact on local populations, contributing directly to SDG 3 (good health and well-being).

My generation grew up holding a telescope and eyes trained on the world. Perhaps it is time to change instruments, pick up a microscope, and start right at home.

BIO

Johanna Manga is a bilingual global health strategist and cultural practitioner whose work bridges gender equity, youth leadership, and cross-sectoral policy in both Francophone and Anglophone contexts. Johanna holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical sciences and a Masters of Science in Public health, specialized in global health, both from the University of Montreal. She has worked with a network of Canadian and international NGOs dedicated to improving global health outcomes (UNICEF, Health Systems Global, CAGH, CanWaCH) and has organized many international health conferences and events. Born in Cameroon and raised in Zimbabwe and Congo-Brazzaville, she has been calling Canada her home for over a decade. With a multi-continental background and fluent in French, English, and Spanish, Johanna is also an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, using music to explore themes of memory, identity, and belonging across the diaspora.

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