Sustainable Development Goals: What to salvage from Covid-19

By Abdullah ShibliMay 21 2020 (IPS-Partners) Once the Covid-19 pandemic is under control, and the world economy is back on its tracks, the status and fate of the 2030 Agenda, also known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), needs to be reassessed. The year 2020 was supposed to kick-off the Decade of Action. With just 10 years to go, plans were made to undertake “ambitious global efforts” to deliver the 2030 promise—by mobilising more governments, civil society, businesses, and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own. Before the worldwide lockdown began in March, various stakeholders of the SDG movement were planning to undertake a full-scale five-year evaluation. Fifty-one countries had signed up to conduct voluntary national reviews (VNR) by May 2020, a process through which countries assess and present progress made in achieving the 17 goals. The process came to a complete halt with the current pandemic crisis. The “pandemic pause” is a blessing in disguise. It gives all the stakeholders a chance to undertake a thorough review of where we stand as well as what needs to change. Are all the 17 goals equally important? A partial answer was provided by Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. “Think of the bureaucratic capacity it takes to achieve these things. How are countries going to keep track? We need to go back to the drawing board,” he said. The next question is, how do we reprioritise and revamp the SDGs? While advance...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Health Sustainability Source Type: news