The SDG Book Clubs, initially in the 6 official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) has grown to include lists in several countries and languages. The Book Clubs feature  book recommendations for children aged 6-12 on the different SDGs. This year, the book tips on the page of the reading competition revolve around SDG 16 – “Peace, justice and strong institutions”, further recommendations for the other SDGs will follow:

https://www.vorlesewettbewerb.de/der-wettbewerb/buchempfehlungen/liste/gerechtigkeit-und-frieden

“The 17 sustainability goals of the United Nations concern us all. That is why it is so important that children and young people also engage with them. The 16th goal in particular, which is about peace and justice, has become our focus in view of the Russian war in Ukraine. The SDG Book Club of the reading competition offers age-appropriate, orientation-providing reading recommendations on the topics and thus enables a sensitive approach,” says Peter Kraus vom Cleff, General Manager of the Börsenverein.

Irina Lumelsky, Acting Head of UN Publications said : “The United Nations launched the Decade of Action to mobilize activities towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. With only eight years to go, it takes a village to support the goals and we are excited to welcome young German readers to the SDG Book Club. We are looking forward to engaging and inspiring new readers to be a part of positive impact on the world.”

Michiel Kolman, Chair of the IPA’s Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee added: “The IPA warmly welcomes the latest SDG Book Club, this time from Germany, to the rapidly expanding family of SDG Book Clubs around the world. Such wonderful news that German kids can now read SDG-related books in their own language and become acquainted with the sustainability goals at a young age.”

More about the SDG Book Clubs in German at https://www.vorlesewettbewerb.de/der-wettbewerb/sdg-book-club.

The official UN page, including links to other SDG Book Clubs is available here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdgbookclub/

Information about IPA’s work around the SDGs is available here:

https://sdg.internationalpublishers.org

The SDG Book Club was launched by the United Nations and the International Publishers Association (IPA) and is supported by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA ), European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by world leaders at the historic Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. Encompassing everything from health, to gender equality, and education, the Goals will mobilize efforts around the world to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

Original announcement in German: https://www.boersenverein.de/boersenverein/aktuelles/detailseite/sdg-book-club-vorlesewettbewerb-unterstuetzt-un-nachhaltigkeitsziele/