The United Nations (UN) is a diplomatic and political organisation that is made up of 193 member states (as at November 2024). The purpose of the UN is to maintain international peace and security through fostering relations and cooperation among nations.

1.5.1 Communication as a human right

Communication is a basic human right and is an integral part of our well-being.  Communication rights are specifically referred to in a number of United Nations articles including, for example:

• Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
• Article 21 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
  • Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information
• Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child (Article 12);
  • The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice (Article 13).

For some people, communication difficulties can lead to significant barriers as well as negative effects on a person’s emotional and social well-being. Everyone has the right to communicate in ways that suit the person and in ways that may overcome these barriers.  A useful framework to consider is the Communication Bill of Rights (3rd ed.) published by the USA National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) (NJC, 2024).  These communication rights promote full participation across the lifespan.  Scope Victoria have developed a useful poster that outlines these 12 rights.

Recently, there has been an international call for SDG 18: Communication for All.  “This call has advocated for the importance of communication to overcome communication barriers, disinformation, and inequalities and support sustainability, inclusion, gender equality, development, social change, and peace in policy, the media, social media, literacy, information, activism, and civil society” (McLeod & Marshall, 2023, p.1).

Our role as speech pathologists, and speech pathology students, is to advocate for communication rights.  Advocacy means building public support for a particular cause. To advocate means standing up for your rights, standing up for someone else, or an issue you see within the broader community (SPA, 2023).

1.5.2 Sustainable development goals (SDG)

In 2015, the UN presented 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (United Nations, 2015), with the aim of these being achieved by 2030.  The 17 SDGs address poverty, hunger, health, education, gender, innovation, climate, cities, land, oceans, justice, and partnerships to achieve the goals and are underpinned by five principles, or 5Ps: “people, planet, prosperity, peace, partnership” (Sustainable Capacity International Institute, 2015-2020).

This video provides an overview of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

^{The Sustainable Development Goals by United Nations} 

Without effective individual and global communication, achievement of the 17 SDGs will be impacted (McLeod, 2018; McLeod & Marshall, 2023). Everybody, including speech pathologists, people with communication and/or swallowing difficulties, their families and communities, have a role in contributing to the achievement of all 17 SDGs.