Daily Times

The decade of the 1990s witnessed a rare sense of determination and a renewed spirit manifested by the world leadership, following the Cold War. With global poverty, hunger, gender inequality, and widespread disease hitting the poorest harder, human development experts, social activists, and world leaders unanimously agreed that a new global collaboration was urgently needed among countries to achieve equitable progress and, thereby, effectively address the social needs of the people. In particular, the disadvantaged and marginalized millions in the poorest countries needed a better deal and deserved a better life. Therefore, building on the earlier commitments and responding to the clarion calls of civil society, leaders from 189 countries from around the world gathered at the United Nations in the year 2000 for the Millennium Summit. They signed a historic promise by inking the Millennium Declaration comprising a set of eight goals proposed by the experts as the roadmap of socio-economic and human development for the next fifteen years. These were phrased as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These MDGs were primarily intended for the least developed or the most disadvantaged countries mired in the mayhem of misery, disease, and deprivation. The rich and wealthy nations stood committed to ensuring financial support by working with the World Bank and other international financial institutions to waive off loans in billions of dollars that the poorest countries were struggling to pay. It was believed that by providing the much-needed fiscal space to the poorest countries, the financial resources could be utilized locally by each country towards the realization of MDGs. To measure and track the progress, the UN broke each goal down into specific targets to be realized by 2015.

The ambitious 2030 agenda direly needs a strong commitment to ensuring the realization of the world’s greatest promise made at the specially convened summit in 2015.

It is pertinent to recall that the MDGs were targeted to be achieved by 2015. Therefore, it is equally important to understand the outcome that emerged from the UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015. While many of these goals did not really register the desired success, only some countries could come closer to achieving the intended results, though it varied by country. After reviewing the sub-optimal progress achieved by the MDGs, the UN member states agreed to convene a special summit for the adoption of the post-2015 agenda and, thus, continue with their commitment to a more equitable world. Therefore, building further on the lessons learned from MDGs, the UN organized a Development Summit in 2015 by inviting civil society organizations, world leaders, and other stakeholders. Following the MDG reports and the findings of the summit, the UN General Assembly agreed upon 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. Therefore, on September 25-27, during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the special summit unanimously agreed to sign a declaration “Transforming Our World – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” These SDGs have one or more targets assigned to each of them, a total of 169 targets, with their own separate measurable indicators and timelines. The document was signed as the 2030 Development Agenda which was pressed into action from January 2016. The indicators are meant to monitor and track the levels of success achieved against the targets assigned. Hence, this document seeks to make a universal call to action with a pronounced focus on achieving visible improvement in five key areas such as people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership.

The 2030 Agenda encompasses a set of 17 universally applicable, integrated objectives with a clearly drawn roadmap for sustainable development. These lofty goals aimed at improving human conditions and the natural world are officially referred to as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is immensely important to understand how SDGs are different from MDGs. Firstly, while the MDGs were focused on developing countries, the SDGs are universally applicable to the entire world, placing equal responsibility on the developed countries as well. Secondly, MDGs were primarily aimed at ending poverty and hunger and providing better living conditions to the hapless millions from the poor south, the SDGs aspire to encompass broader subjects such as gender, climate crisis, education, and a global partnership to address these socio-economic divides, and with sustainability at the heart of all human actions. Thirdly, MDGs were limited and narrow in their scope and impact, the SDGs are more comprehensive and ambitious in their impact and appeal. Unlike MDGs which were only directed at helping the poorest countries, the SDGs are intended for the entire world and the rich and developed countries also have got their to-do list. Therefore, the SDGs are more robust, and inclusive, with a larger-than-life agenda of a more sustainable world for all the people and other creatures populating the planet Earth. The ambitious 2030 agenda direly needs a strong commitment to ensuring the realization of the world’s greatest promise made at the specially convened summit in 2015. It requires a massive and sustained effort, particularly by the developed world, to allocate substantial resources to fund these ambitious targets.

However, in addition to the stronger commitment to allocate greater resources by the rich and affluent countries to the SDGs, more focused attention is needed to the empowerment of the local and municipal governments in the urban centers which are the potential hubs of the monitoring and implementation of the initiatives in connection with the SDGs. Similarly, a well-coordinated effort promises better results through integrated action and synergies of institutions evolved to create a positive impact on the indicators designed to track the progress of the SDGs. Therefore, effective, and result-oriented implementation of the SDGs will require an innovative global framework that aims to connect people, link regions, build last partnerships, and evolve enduring collaboration for a sustained transfer of skills, knowledge, best practices, and technology from those who have in abundance to those who need them the most. This ambitious undertaking can only be pressed into action by leveraging the latest technology which requires financial investments. For this to happen, the richer countries need to come forward and invest in green technologies and environment-friendly process engineering that flow towards low-income countries. It will require an integrated course of action involving bigger corporate businesses, governments, civil society, media, and academia to not only deliberate on these solutions but also find ways to work together to press these agreed ideas into action on the ground.

Furthermore, it is imperative to keep in mind that successful implementation of the SDGs will depend on dismantling complex interrelationships among the goals and their targets. A clear, coordinated, and consistent approach toward sustainability would be required to realize the potential of the key players, as well as managing the tensions and building enduring synergies among the stakeholders. More importantly, in managing the tensions of sustainability and sustainable development, a key role has to be played by international organizations and agencies such as the UN, governments of various countries, nongovernmental organizations, and civil society organizations. We must remember the concept of sustainability only thrives on the commitment of people displayed in responsible actions. So, in order to translate the concept into action, the potential of public participation at the grassroots level should be maximized. Likewise, a comprehensive global awareness and advocacy campaign by media, civil society, and academia needs to be launched that sensitizes people across the globe that their future and that of their children rely on the responsible behaviors manifested in their production, distribution, and consumption. Thus, a holistic approach followed by all the stakeholders involving political, social, economic, technological, environmental, and legislative pillars is the key to the success of SDGs. We have already arrived at a defining juncture in human history where every action we take today will have far-reaching implications for the future of this planet. Therefore, it is hoped that businesses, civil society, governments, and academia will come together and take collective ownership, manifest leadership, and exhibit citizenship both in words and actions to make SDGs work and, thereby, secure a shared and sustainable future for the generations to come.

The writer is a civil servant, published author, and communication specialist. He is currently enrolled as a PhD Scholar at the University of Leicester, UK.