State of the SDGs in the Face of COVID-19
It was quite clear, even before the Coronavirus pandemic, that progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 2030 Agenda was beginning to trail behind. This fact was highlighted in the annual United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report published on the 9th of July last year. This report, along with many others, clearly shows that global efforts towards achieving the SDGs have not simply slowed, they have regressed in some key areas.
It seems that well before the threat of COVID-19 surfaced, a worrying trend was emerging: the reduction of global funding commitments to the sustainable development agenda. This trend will undoubtedly be amplified by the immediate and long-term impacts of this pandemic.
Many people will shrug off the idea of international development at this time. It is understandable, after all, as we are all faced with a new reality as a result of the virus. But we cannot forget that 1 in 3 people currently lack access to safe drinking water. Globally, a staggering 2 billion people use drinking water which is contaminated with faeces. Another 820 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, while 79.5 million people are displaced as a result of war or persecution; a figure that is sadly expected to rise. While progress has been made towards reducing infant mortality over the past two decades, right now, a child under the age of five dies from a preventable disease or the consumption of unsafe drinking water every minute.
These risks to human security have been here long before COVID-19 and will continue long after a vaccine is found.
While in many ways the Coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented, its impacts on the world’s most vulnerable people are not. We know that if no action is taken now, the security of millions of people will be at risk. At this most critical time, we must continue supporting human development efforts.
We cannot sit by idly as financial commitments by our governments in areas of foreign development and assistance are slashed in the name of our national economies. If we allow this to happen domestically and bilaterally, the human security of millions of people will rapidly deteriorate. Indeed, it already has, with the World Food Programme preparing for multiple famines, and warning that COVID-19 could create a situation in which 300,000 people die from malnutrition every single day.
A Call to Action
Here are three key directives we can advocate for, that will drastically change the trajectory of increased levels of human insecurity and humanitarian crisis post-2020. At the very minimum, we must ensure governments and other key stakeholders:
1. Enhance or at least abide by their official commitments to development assistance.
This will ensure leading humanitarian agencies, such as the WHO, UNICEF, WFP, the Red Cross and countless others can continue delivering essential services to vulnerable populations.
2. Halt debt repayments for ‘Developing’ nations and highly indebted nations, by enacting a complete debt waiver for the duration of COVID-19 and its economic recovery phase.
This will allow governments of ‘Developing’ nations to set aside funds that would usually go to debt repayments and redirect them towards meeting the immediate needs of their populations, including food, water, healthcare, and sanitation.
3. Lift sanctions during the time of COVID-19.
Trade barriers will only exacerbate existing problems within nation-states. If sanctions remain in place, the capacity of governments to import essential food and medical items for an effective domestic COVID-19 response will be drastically reduced. Sanctions also limit a nation-state's ability to participate in trade opportunities thereby undermining the possibility of economic growth and recovery.
We must do everything in our power at the individual, institutional, and bilateral level to ensure human security and sustainable development efforts are placed first in global COVID-19 recovery strategies. Now more than ever, we must choose a narrative of solidarity and partnership rather than one of fear and isolationism.
