The local implementation of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals by an international charity project in Africa

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) framework was signed by virtually every nation on earth in 2015 and addresses topics ranging from environmental protection; via equal opportunities, education and the eradication of diseases; to overcoming famine, poverty, slavery and child labor. The UN SDG framework arguably represents – both in terms of its scope and its worldwide support – one of the most significant internationalframeworks in human history. International projects should not only be aware of the UN SDG in general and the intended national implementations of the framework by the different countries in which each project operates; but they should ensure that they implement themselves relevant key goals of the framework and contribute to the achievement of the national commitments by the countries they operate in. Apart from helping to improve the world we are living in, this will help to significantly reduce project risks, secure funding opportunities from both governmental and nongovernmentalorganizations, and bring about more sustainable solutions as project deliverables. Using the example of a charity project that is concerned with the development of a local health care system in a deprived region of Cameroon, this paper illustrates a pre-emptive implementation of certain key aspects of the UN SDG framework at the local level, prior to and in support of the anticipated full implementation of the framework at the national level by Cameroon