AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLES OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN ACHIEVING THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Abstract

The attainment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is dependent on numerous components, which must be harnessed together and in the human resource management parlance, a core element for actualising this feat is through the human resource, as this is perceived as the bedrock and engine of any organisation. To this end, this study examined the roles of human resource development in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The study was premised on the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) theory as the theory helps in facilitating a lucid comprehension of the roles required of organisation in training its human resource, motivating them and presenting them with opportunities to come up with initiatives for fulfilling objectives 9, 11 and 13 of the sustainable development agenda. This study clearly and succinctly highlights the roles of developing human resources towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as the challenges, which may likely impede on the process of employing human resources in the attainment of these goals. The study dwelled on the AMO theory assists in the identification of green roles of individual employees and their organisations in their quests to achieving UNSDGs. The study concluded that sustainable development is an effective modern approach for forward thinking managers. Therefore, in contributing immensely to this global call, periodic development of human resource remains a panacea for making sure that employees are constantly educated to exhibit the required pro sustainability behaviours towards protecting the ecosystem.