Decent Life Initiative and Sustainable Development Goals: A Systems Thinking Approach

Abstract

Decent Life is a presidential initiative that was launched in Egypt in the year 2019. The initiative targets complex problems facing underprivileged villages in Egypt. This paper uses a systems thinking approach to gain a holistic view of the initiative dimensions and address the interlinkages between these dimensions from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper used a causal loop diagram (CLD) as a visualization of the systems thinking approach to analyze the interactions and interlinkage between all the components of the system. The Decent Life Initiative works on improving economic, social, and environmental infrastructures, which are related to SDGs. To achieve the initiative’s goals effectively, this paper suggests working under the umbrella of three important factors: Raising awareness, adopting technology, and putting in place supportive policies and legislations. Finally, the paper suggests using system dynamics as a quantitative method, which uses stock-flow diagrams, to measure the impacts of the initiative on the achievement of the SDGs in Egypt.