Daily Times

UN General Assembly, through resolution 47/196 declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and started observing from 1993 onwards to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution.

In order to make a universal call to action to end poverty and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 and eradication of poverty has been set as the first and foremost goal under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Sustainable Development is a development that meets the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. There was indeed a felt need to reset the direction of the world economy, from one of widening inequalities, social exclusion, and massive environmental threats to the course of sustainable development. This necessitated a path for a world in which prosperity is shared, societies are inclusive, and the environment is kept safe.

There was indeed a need felt to reset the direction of the world economy: from one of widening inequalities, social exclusion, and massive environmental threats to the course of sustainable development.

“To leave no one behind,” the 2030 Agenda has defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets. These Goals are SDG 1 – Towards Poverty Reduction; SDG 2 – Striving to Reduce Hunger; SDG 3 – Endeavours towards Good health and Well-being; SDG 4 – Ensuring Quality Education; SDG 5 – Moving Towards Gender Equality; SDG 6 – Ensuring Access to Clean Water and Sanitation; SDG 7 – Striving Towards Affordable and Clean Energy; SDG 8 – Ensuring Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG 9 – Moving Towards Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities; SDG 11 – Building Sustainable Cities and Communities; SDG 12 – Moving Towards Responsible Consumption and Production; SDG 13 – Taking Urgent Actions to Reduce Climate Impact; SDG 14 – Sustaining Life below Water; SDG 15 – Supporting Life on Land; SDG 16 – Building Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; and SDG 17 – Building Partnerships for Achieving the Goals.

The SDGs Unit of the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives (MoPD&SI) has issued an SDGs Status Report 2021 that shows the performance of Pakistan and other provinces against various indicators. The Status Report has been extensively consulted for this opinion piece.

At present in this report, 193 indicators have been selected for national reporting out of 247, while 54 indicators do not qualify to be reported due to their non-relevance in the case of Pakistan. This selection of indicators is consistent with the high-priority targets of the National SDGs Framework approved by the National Economic Council (NEC) in 2018. Currently, Pakistan can monitor and report 133 indicators out of 193 (68.91 per cent) from national and international sources.

Due to the paucity of space, only a few indicators specifically prioritized by the Federal Government in its national development agenda have been discussed. For this opinion piece, the status of SDGs achievements and failures in the province/regions of Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) has been examined in the light of Pakistan SDGs Status Report 2021.

Pakistan has designed a comprehensive National SDGs Framework, which was approved by the National Economic Council, the country’s highest economic policymaking forum, in March 2018. Federal and Provincial Ministries were advised to incorporate the SDGs in all relevant plans, strategies, and programmes, draw up corresponding action plans, and take appropriate measures. The Government of Punjab, through its Planning & Development Board, launched The Punjab SDGs Project in 2016 to effectively localize, mainstream and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Punjab launched its own SDGs framework in 2019 following extensive discussions and feedback from sectoral experts and public sector stakeholders.

The government of Gilgit-Baltistan has made concerted efforts to incorporate SDGs within its development and policy frameworks, policy and programme planning, and sectoral strategies. Though the Government has already initiated streamlining SDGs within its Annual Development Plans, one of the most significant milestones that will be achieved in the current year is formulating an SDGs prioritization framework for GB. This is envisioned as a landmark framework as it provides a roadmap to the Government in identifying priority targets and rationalizing budgetary allocations based on target setting.

The government of AJK has also endeavoured to localisation of SDGs in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and strives to enhance economic growth while improving human well-being through the sustainable development framework. This framework was prepared in consultation with district and state-level SDGs focal persons, including line departments and other stakeholders and the Planning & Development Department. This Framework was categorized to serve the purpose based on the width and depth of a particular issue affecting people, multiplier impact, resource requirement, structural change, and relevance of the issue in each district of AJK. AJK’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2018-23) has been explicitly linked with the SDGs to ensure proper and continuous implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Regarding SDG-1, the proportion of the population living below the international poverty line increased by 0.4 per cent between 2015 and 2018. However, the proportion of the population living below the national poverty line has declined. There was a noticeable improvement in the proportion of the population living in households with access to basic services. Large regional disparities persist in access to basic services. AJK households saw a decline in access to improved water sources from 65.4 per cent to 60 per cent between 2014-15 to 2018-19 period. Nearly half of the population i.e. 47 per cent, had access to gas to use as a cooking fuel in 2018-19, which increased from 41.3 per cent from 2014-15. The proportion of government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection) has been a major long-term poverty reduction strategy. Generally, government spending on education, health and social protection has stagnated at around 24 per cent over the last five years between 2014-15 and 2019-20 at the national level

(To Be Continued).

The writer is a freelance columnist and writes on gender, climate and social issues. She can be reached at ghaniausman786@gmail.com.