Africa-Press – Eswatini. Only eight years remain, to achieve all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally, so there is a growing need to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of action by targeting multiple SDGs. The SDGs were conceived as an ‘indivisible whole’, but interactions between SDGs need to be better understood. Several previous assessments, which are called progress reports and VNRs, have been produced which highlight progress, achievements and challenges among others.
In fact progress has been insufficient so far. The country has an opportunity as it is in the process of developing its long-term development strategy called the NDS. As this process begins, it needs to consider the acceleration of the implementation of the SDGs. This suggests that the interlinkages of the SDGs need to be the area of focus such that focusing on governance means that SDGs related to human wellbeing are dependent on SDGs that provide the enabling infrastructure for development and SDGs that provide the supporting natural systems showing that economies and societies should be seen as embedded parts of the biosphere. All the SDGs are directly or indirectly connected to sustainable and healthy food, and suggest that goals on eradicating poverty (SDG 1) and zero hunger (SDG 2) require gender equality (SDG 5), decent jobs (SDG 8) and reduced inequality (SDG 10).
The other thing that needs to be in the minds of all SDGs stakeholders, is that solutions to the problems that affect sustainable development should not be limited solely to the policies, strategies and standards designed and established in government and companies. It is said every drop in the ocean can make a great difference. The role played by individual citizens in their communities is also important in the implementation of the SDGs. For example, it is known that every liSwati is a farmer, which means most practice farming, which is directly linked to the environment’s impact. This assumes that there is a great need for raising awareness and advocacy to achieve the SDGs. In the remaining eight years, the country needs a proper plan that will outline how all the stakeholders, including individual citizens, can contribute in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Knowing about the agenda is not enough, but what matters is the knowledge of the role you need to play in implementing the agenda.
Framework
As highlighted above, the SDGs are an integrated framework of human, social and environmental development objectives that include 17 goals with 169 targets and 232 specific indicators. They represent a global agreement across the United Nation’s member states that have been widely used in planning tools such as national development plans. Since their adoption and implementation in the country, much work has been accomplished measuring and monitoring their current status of achievement using the national SDG reports which are annually and the two VNR reports of 2019 and 2022 the country produced. Since the agenda is left with eight years, it is plausible for the country’s SDG stakeholders to do an analysis for the path to achieve the SDGs in the remaining years.
The first question that each or every stakeholder must ask is that; ‘are we on the right path and how likely are we to achieve these targets if we continue with our current policy prioritisation’? This will lead us to another question; ‘are we quite close to achieving these SDGs and only need to make a few critical policies’? These are not the only questions we should ask ourselves with the purpose of accelerating the implementation of the SDGs but these are given as an example of the questions that we should ask ourselves.
The purpose of the SDGs, when developed, was to tackle economic, social and environmental issues that plague the world and to promote the concept of sustainability. The country adopted and implement the SDG Agenda 2030 in 2015. Government integrated the SDGs into its national plans and policies. Institutional arrangements were also put in place to drive and monitor progress. Since then, the country has been producing annual progress reports on the SDGs including two VNRs, which were presented in the UN High Level Political Forum. The reports mention a number of challenges that the country is faced with regarding progress towards achieving the SDGs by 2030. They also make recommendations to inform policy.
Using the SDGs reports produced by the country, more especially the recent VNR, it will be possible to come up with the correct answers to the above questions and be able to project the SDGs indicators to 2030. This will also help in coming up with innovative approaches that will help the country in accelerating the SDGs’ implementation. In the list of many indicators of the SDG targets, the country has a set of indicators that are able to provide annual updates, some are not updated annually since their data is collected in periodically surveys, some do not have data since the implementation of the SDGs and some are not applicable in the country’s context. This analysis of the indicators alone gives a clear picture in terms of the future of the 2030 Agenda in the country.
With regard to the poor, while there is still limited evidence on how the natural disasters that recently took place including COVID-19, the civil unrest and the continuing Russia-Ukraine war have and will impact them, there is no doubt that poverty will remain a predominantly rural phenomenon in the years to come as rural populations are mostly vulnerable to economic shocks as they lose jobs, has less access to health services and support, and with a lower resilience capacity due to low savings and assets. In the long run the negative effects of these will be felt as, I assume, poverty and inequalities will increase due to these disasters. A greater focus on rural areas is still needed to achieve SDG 1 (ending poverty in all its forms everywhere) and SDG 2 (ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture) as well as most other SDGs. While we are concerned about eradicating poverty, it is important to know that the population living in poverty in the country is about 58.9 per cent, which is about 643 917 people. This figure assumes that the country needs to take 221 people out of poverty daily which amounts to about 80 490 people per year.
The main principle of the SDGs is leaving no one behind; this suggest that if the Agenda 2030 can be implemented effectively, by 2030 everyone will be enjoying the economic benefits of the country’s resources. An eight-year plan of action for the SDGs needs to be developed to strengthen the acceleration of Agenda 2030. In conclusion, it is evident that even though there are areas where the country is doing well in terms of the SDGs’ implementation but that is not enough. Adjustments and innovative approaches in certain areas are needed to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs. Everyone needs to commit himself or herself to the SDGs.
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