The world agreed that Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) is an important part for the world development platform to improve the quality of human life. After the agreement concluded in 1 Januari 2016, SDG’s required the countries to use its platform for society development.

Besides involving the goverment, countries adopting SDG’s concept should also involve various community elements such as corporation, civil society (NGO), and philanthropy institution. Indonesia also assign those four development platforms as the reflection of SDG’s pillar in this country.

The National Board of Zakat (BAZNAS) of the Republic of Indonesia as the coordinator of Indonesia zakat movement, see the SDG’s as the tools for realizing its mission. The missions are to increase the welfare level of mustahik, to reduce poverty, to increase the quality of human resource, to push off the community health, and other aspects that are related with mustahik development. BAZNAS National Amil Zakat Director, Mr. Arifin Purwakananta, states that BAZNAS places SDG’s as the alternative to measure zakat development programs.

“Zakat movement led by BAZNAS certainly has its point of view in developing society welfare. The world had the Maqoshid Assar’iyyah concept and the other derivative concept as the Islamic basic to get well-being of the ummat”, he said after presented a paper in a "High Level Side Event" at the United Nations, New York (21/9). In the event, BAZNAS assign the commitment to applying the SDG’s in its entire program.

All of BAZNAS’s programs currently are inline with the 17 frameworks of SDG’s, such as poverty problem, which targets poverty alleviation. As for other programs, especially education and human resource development, BAZNAS has contributed around 25% of its collected zakat for the success of the programs.  Mr. Arifin said, BAZNAS and the zakat movement need SDG’s as the alternative framework. This agreed SDG’s will be treated until the end of 2030.

“When development program by BAZNAS meets SDG’s objective successfully, it will allow us to get some advantages, such acknowledgement on the role of zakat movement as the group or community that contribute for national development significantly” he said.

When Islam is judged as the antithesis of welfare, for example in the terorism case or in the country with the high rate of poverty; the zakat movement with SDG’s point of view could be seen as the contributor of problem solver among the society.

From the 17 SDG’s programs, the zakat movement emphasizes 11 core issues. Those are poverty alleviation, alleviating starvation, increasing the quality of health, education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, energy, economic growth, decrease the gap, climate change, and partnership.
“Furthermore, it is a strong belief that the problem of the umat could only be solved by umat themself. The presence of SDG’s framework would help the zakat movement to act as primary key component to solve the problems of the ummah” he said. (pusat.baznas.go.id; Lala/Puskas)