In 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 were defined. The goals include the eradication of poverty, access to quality and equitable education for all, environmental protection, and health for all. While the SDGs target the world in general, as each country faces at least one of the obstacles to development, it appears that developing countries, particularly those in Africa and South America, are the most concerned. This panorama raises questions to which researchers could provide an answer: how to make the SDGs intelligible to Africans and other Third World countries so that they can easily appropriate them? How much consideration is given to the multiple and diverse contexts among developing countries in the conceptualisation of the SDGs?

Argument

In 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 were defined. The goals include the eradication of poverty, access to quality and equitable education for all, environmental protection, and health for all. While the SDGs target the world in general, as each country faces at least one of the obstacles todevelopment, it appears that developing countries, particularly those in Africa andSouth America, are the most concerned. This is why most of the projects set up to facilitate the achievement of the SDGs are geared toward these countries. With 8 years to go, the 2030 Agenda seems far from being respected in Africa, despite the plethora of initiatives undertaken by international development partner organisations, the governments of Third World countries, as well as civil societies, not to mention scientific research. Indeed, poverty persists, new conflicts are emerging in a scattered manner, deforestation and environmental destruction continue considerably, and education for all as well as access to drinking water seem utopian. Moreover, multiple inequalities remain, gender disparities persist and the gap between rich and poor keeps widening.

A recent study (Ndibnu-Messina, et al.2022) in relation to SDGs 13 and 15 aimed at raising awareness on environmental protection and eco-citizenship through the construction of a multilingual lexicon and a dialogue of languages through storytelling, points out all the difficulties inequipping speakers in multilingual contexts with the linguistic capacities to express in African languages, key concepts of the above-mentioned SDGs.

While these SDGs are fraught with terminological and pedagogical glitches in indigenous, local, national, and regional languages, it is possible to see a similarity with the other SDGs. This panorama raises questions to which researchers could provide an answer: how to make the SDGs intelligible to Africans and other Third World countries so that they can easily appropriate them? How much consideration is given to the multiple and diverse contexts among developing countries in the conceptualisation of the SDGs? How can localisation studies such as the one carried out by UNDP in 2018 in Central and West Africa be extended to other settings? How to integrate the real target of the SDGs, i.e. rural populations who are also the most illiterate, from the outset? How does scientific research integrate the SDGs into its aims? These and many other questions focusing on the SDGs in developing countries could be clarified in the expected contribution proposals.

The research areas for this theme are as follows:

• (Re)conceptualisation of the SDGs and socio-cultural realities.
• Deconstruction and reconstruction of the concepts of the SDGs.
• Multilingual environment and the SDGs.
• Experimental and basic sciences and the development of the SDGs.
• New visions for the achievement of the SDGs in developing countries

Target

This call for papers is open to junior and senior researchers from allcountries. African doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows areparticularly encouraged to submit articles.

The proposed articles shouldexplicitly address the theme of the issue.

Format of the proposals

Writing instructions can be downloaded from www.acetelach.org

Complete articles can be sent to acetelach@gmail.com

• Deadline for submission of complete papers: 30 August 2023.

• Return of two anonymous expert reports: 15 October 2023.
• Submission of revised articles: 31 November 2023.
• Publication date: 30 December 2023.

Scientific Committee

• Pr Jules Assoumou (University of Douala)
• Pr Clément Bigirimana (University of Burundi)
• PrThéophile Calaina (University of Ngaoundéré)
• PrParé Daouda (University of Ngaoundéré)
• Prof. Karen Ferreira-Meyers (University of Eswatini)
• Prof. Moez Lahmédi (University of Mahdial)
• Prof. Mathieu Mangeot (University of Grenoble-Alpes)
• Prof.Julia Ndibnu-Messina Ethé (University of Yaoundé I)
• PrEvariste Ntakirutimana (University of Rwanda)
• Prof. Melchior Ntahonkiriye (University of Burundi)
• Prof. Louis Martin Onguéné Essono (University of Yaoundé I)
• PrOuba Abdoul-Bagui (University of Ngaoundéré)
• Pr Tidjet Mustapha (University of Béjéia)
• PrWega Simeu (University of Bamenda)
• Prof. Béatrice Yanzigiye (University of Rwanda)
• Prof.Innocent Fasse Mbouya (University of Douala)

Reading Committee

• Dr Chantal Salomé Ntsama,
• Dr Paule Marie Kougang (University of Buea),
• Dr Constantine Kouankem (University of Bertoua),
• Dr Adriel Bebine (University ofYaoundé I),
• Dr Elias Kaiza Kossi (University of Ghana),
• Dr Roger Ndjonmbog(University of Yaoundé I),
• Dr Mariam Abba (University of Ngaoundéré),
• Mr ArnaudTabakou

Technical aspects: Rodrigue Cheumadjeu and Cyrille Sandeu