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Created with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Watch as Global Thought Leaders Talk About Solving Inequality Worldwide

At the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Goalkeepers event, here’s what activists from around the world had to say about moving the needle on the UN’s Goals to save the planet.

On September 19 and 20, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted Goalkeepers, a conference reporting on the progress of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 17 Global Goals outlining a roadmap for a more sustainable and equitable future.

The three main themes of the Goalkeepers conference were gender equality, tech for a purpose and global health. The Goalkeepers represent diverse ages, backgrounds and experiences including writers, scientists, innovators in medicine and technology, comedians and artists. VICE Impact interviewed these leaders on their work addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, why a global mobilization behind the goals is important and how individuals can get involved.

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The event included influential attendees such as recording artist Wil.i.am who works to provide technological education to disenfranchised youth, Tanzanian lawyer Rebeca Gyumi who helped outlaw child marriage in her country, Google X CEO Astro Teller, Founder of Muslim Girl--an online magazine-- Amani Al-Khatahtbeh and others.

Gender Equality

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a continuation of the Millennium Development Goals, global commitments set in 2000 to address extreme poverty around the world. The mobilization around the Goals has yielded incredible results: lifting more than one billion people out of extreme poverty, improving access to education and healthcare, and making real progress against hunger.

Global Health

The effectiveness of the Global Goals relies on coordinated efforts between governing bodies, local organizations, business leaders and philanthropists. But there's also a more personal message emphasized by the Goalkeepers actively working to make a more equitable world: Do not take for granted the impact one individual can have in creating change. The large-scale agenda of the Global Goals is strengthened when individuals around the world inform the conversation about how to improve their own communities and when we demand our political representatives support local and global efforts to leave no one behind.

To learn more about the SDGs and to join the conversation head to the Goalkeepers site.