A Student Association of George Brown College (SAGBC) representative helped pass a motion at the Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) National General Meeting last week which will see the CFS sign the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Accord.

The pledge will see the CFS commit to the 17 SDGs, which encompass issues such as sustainability, equality, food security and access to education, among others.

Sri Krishna Rajan, the SAGBC’s director of education and equity, spearheaded the motion. Earlier this year, Krishna helped pass a motion at a SAGBC board of directors meeting which saw the SAGBC become the first college student union to sign the SDG Accord.

“It’s really important to me,” said Krishna, when asked about his commitment to this project. “When I signed the SDG Accord on behalf of the SAGBC, we also needed guidance and support. And CFS is going to provide this because they signed as a support organization.”

Krishna said his motion was met with near-unanimous support at CFS’s National Meeting, which saw representatives from student unions from across the country convene. Particular support, he said, came from the University of Toronto Student Union.

Krishna says that student unions have a particularly important role to play in keeping colleges and universities accountable for meeting these development goals, because of their position as advocacy organizations.

“Students union or support organizations, they can lobby against the school admin to take up the SDGs, to do more,” said Krishna. “They are the decision makers that need to be accountable.”

As for what comes next, Krishna says now that the CFS has committed to the SDG Accord, student unions will take a long-term approach to change. Breaking habits is hard, said Krishna, and developing policies that stay in line with the SDG Accord will take time. Krishna’s term with the SAGBC will end in April of 2022, but, as he looks ahead to passing the baton to a new team of student leaders, he hopes this project will remain front of mind.

“We have signed it, so, yes, we need to continue on this and we need to progress to take care of all the 17 goals,” said Krishna. “Because it’s long-term. Maybe the steady progress is a slow progress, but it’s for the long term. It shouldn’t be forgotten.”