Global leaders have endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2015-2030) as a global commitment roadmap to achieving sustainable and inclusive development. With the #leavenoonebehind manifesto that guides the implementation of SDGs, this initiative documents the SDGS in the Maa language by using a participatory video and facilitating discussions within the community. This is the first time, the Maasai community has time to reflect and associate themselves with the SDGs and development as a whole.

The project The Sustainable Development Goals in My Language is supporting the organisation to be able to assist the rightsholder groups to embark on a process of defining development, translate SDGs and relate them to their context. With this illiterate group, the participatory video is the most appropriate methodology to document their scrutiny and analysis and get clear messages for the policymakers.

This initiative is based on the fact that the time has come for local knowledge system, ideology, legal traditions, customary and cultural practices to be appropriately recognised. To achieve this, OLM endeavours to illustrate an important aspect of such recognition through this project.

Through facilitating articulation of the Maasai community’s perception and understanding of SDGs, it contributes to the achievement of these goals through video, and provides space for dialogue with government and other stakeholders to influence implementation of SDGs by making it work for the Maasai indigenous community.

The project gives more influence to the Maasai community on communicating their perspective on the SDGs and effective participation in its implementation.

Within the 12 months of the project lifetime, OLM managed to achieve the goals they had outlined at the beginning of the project.  

• OLM made a video as a facilitation and engagement tool that outlined Maa community perception on development. 
• The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) were translated into Maa Language. OLM disseminated the 17 SDGs translated in Maa language to expand the public understanding of the UN development goals and further community participation in shaping the common understanding of development. The ultimate goal is to use community perception and translation to encourage informed dialogues and engagements with the government.   
• The project reached 400 rightsholders, approximately 100 rightsholders per village that included 210 women, 90 youth (15-25 yrs), 87 Elders (50-70yrs) 13 people with disabilities. 
• OLM has been able to convince the district top leadership (District Executive Director (DED), District Commissioner (DC), District community Development Officer (DCDO) and District Cultural Officer (DCO) on the urgent need to localise and contextualise SDGs for effective community participation. 
• One hundred brochures on the project were translated into Swahili and Maa languages. The brochures were distributed to the villages where the project was being implemented, including partners and the District council.  

• Through the screenings and the dissemination sessions, the Maasai community has come up with a common definition of development. For them, development must embrace sustainability, diversity, identity and self-determination. Failure to do so will mean any development will continue to focus on changing, restructuring cultures as well as impose a fit for all approach
  

OLM is looking forward to finalising the second phase of this project. After we are done, we will upscale the project to ten other villages. In addition, we will screen the video from this project, facilitate discussions, and help create local solutions for issues that can be managed locally.