MDGs basically remain \'an unfinished agenda\'

We are living in an era of hope and thanks to United Nation (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his dedicated team of leadership and more importantly, the global leaders as they have designed, developed and adopted two important global framework that are transformative, ambitious yet achievable, and they are likely to deliver the "Future We Want" --- a more pro-people, more pro-planet, more inclusive, more equitable, more peaceful, sustainable world for all where 'no one is left behind'.

These initiatives are known as 2030 Development Agenda or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change or more specifically the Southern Climate Partnership Incubator (SCPI), a new initiative of the UN Secretary-General that will "accelerate efforts to create and finance climate partnerships among developing countries in support of the Sustainable Development Goals".

The overarching goal of these is to have a world free from the curse of hunger and poverty by 2030 and to pursue a development process in cohesion and with partnership, the core of which would pivot around economic, social and environmental sustainability for all the people of the world. Bangladesh will surely be immensely benefited if SDGs are achieved, and problems of poverty and climate change are resolved.  

While the UN organs and more importantly, the member states will be responsible to implement 17 SDGs and its 169 targets, the SCPI will be jointly implemented by the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General (EOSG) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), in cooperation with other UN entities and stakeholders. It will be an open and inclusive multi-stakeholder platform focusing on fostering partnerships among countries of the global South in the areas such as renewable energy, climate resilience, smart cities, and big data.

In the last 15 years, although most of the least development countries (LDCs) are off-tract on the majority of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) yet the MDGs are the best framework in the 70 years of UN history to lift our fellow human beings from abject and dehumanising extreme poverty.  Through MDGs we tried to alleviate poverty and hunger, reduce mortality rates by reducing common diseases and through imparting better healthcare and education for all. We did pretty well, yet the MDGs basically remain 'an unfinished agenda'.

Many countries have been successful in achieving many MDG goals, however, the achievements have been uneven.  We have reduced poverty level by half, improved longevity, improved school enrolment and stopped the spread of many common diseases.

In the last decades, many of us increased our GDP growth rate quite significantly, however, at the cost of our environment. We sky-rocketed our corporate profit yet millions are without jobs both in developed and in developing countries alike. MDGs were mainly for developing countries but the SDGs and the Paris Agreement are for all - both developing and developed countries.

MILLIONS STILL SUFFERING: MOSTLY IN THE SOUTH: As per Amnesty International, only 85 rich persons have amassed more wealth than the total of half of the world's population, i.e., 3.5 billion people. Therefore, I would like to quote Mahatma Gandhi: "God has created enough to meet the needs of people but not enough to meet the greed of a few".  In spite of so much of plentitudes, it is because of misuse and abuse of God-given resources, regrettably, nearly 57 million children cannot still go to school today, nearly 2.2 billion people live below the poverty level and nearly 850 million people still suffer from chronic hunger mostly in the South.

Millions suffer from acute shortage of essential infrastructure mostly in the South while about 1.4 billion people still have no reliable electricity, 900 million lack accesses to clean water and 2.6 billion do not have adequate sanitation. Nearly 200 million are being hard hit each year due to erratic climate change, and owing to violence mostly in the South, nearly another recorded 60 million become refugees, loitering across countries with no hope.

The cry of boat people and helplessness in disasters undermine our achievements. Therefore, there is a need for changing our consumption and production pattern for the good of mankind and for our future generations. One of our great Bengali poets while reminding us to be cautious in wasting wrote: 'Je jon deboshe moner horosey jalay momer bathi, ashu grihey thar dekibe na ar nishitho prodip bathi'.

MDGS: AN UNFINISHED AGENDA: Although Bangladesh is a success story in MDGs and it reduced poverty by more than half, the fact of the matter is, out of 33 LDCs in Africa only four could achieve MDG-1 (reducing poverty by half) and in Asia-Pacific region, out of 14, only 3.0 could achieve them all. In fact, out of 48 LDCs, only 16 or 33 per cent could achieve MDG-1a (reducing poverty by half), 17 (35 per cent) could achieve MDG-2a (net enrolment), 21 or 44 per cent could achieve MDG-4a (infant mortality), 13 or 27 per cent MDG-5a (maternal mortality), 20 or 42 per cent MDG-7c (safe drinking water), and only 5.0 or 10 per cent could achieve MDG-7d (improved sanitation).

It is unfortunate that out of 48 LDCs, there has been either stagnation, reversal or low progress in 16 LDCs in MDG-1a, 11 in MDG-2a, 13 in MDG-7c and 32 or 67 per cent in MDG-7d. Till to-date the number of 'undernourished children' is pretty high -- in 40 per cent of the LDCs, either it deteriorated or achieved slow progress. Therefore, the global leadership cannot remain complacent.  The challenges are daunting and a long way to go.  It may be mentioned here that the MDG goals that were publicly funded or donor supported performed better.

Therefore, providing means of implementation, particularly financing, is critical to achieve SDGs and the Paris Agreement.  It is needless to say that both developed and developing countries must work together in partnership, in cohesion and collaboration and with commitment to achieve the goals that we have set for us in the UN conferences and summits.  This would be a win-win path for all of us -- both North and the South.

In 2012, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated in the UN that human race will face challenges one after another.  However, if they are empowered - both men and women, they would know how to face challenges and therefore, she spearheaded her "People's Empowerment" resolution at the UN which was adopted with consensus. That resolution emphasised people's empowerment and participation, quality education, skill development, end of discrimination and extremism, and more importantly, inclusively -- 'no one is left behind'.

On September 26, 2015 at the High-level Roundtable on South-South Cooperation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated "in Bangladesh, we have a range of good practices on poverty alleviation, social protection, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, non-formal education, primary health care delivery, food security, sustainable fisheries, access to ICT and mainstreaming migration for development.  We stand ready to share these experiences with other countries",

SDGS: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE BUT FINANCING IS A CHALLENGE: Last year was a historic year for the UN. The global leadership adopted (1) '2030 Development Agenda with 17 SDGs and 169 targets that highlighted 5Ps--- Population, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership, (2) the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, (3) 4As or Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) for financing, and (4) the Sendai Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness (DRRR) to reduce loss, death, destruction and helplessness. To achieve these goals, we also need, as per various estimates, from $5.0 to 11 trillion dollars a year.

Only for infrastructure development, as per reports, Asia needs nearly $8.0 trillion dollars per annum. To eradicate poverty and hunger, as per Intergovernmental estimates, we need $66 billion a year, to have education for all, we need $42 billion and to have better healthcare, we need another $37 billion a year. Where from can we manage so much of resources? The total annual official development assistance (ODA) is around $135-138 billion a year which is around 2.8 per cent of $5.0 trillion required. Where from should we get rest 97 per cent funding? With ODA reduced by 12 per cent in 2014, increased future flows are uncertain.

Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, Professor Emeritus and former President of the UN High-level Committee on the South-South Cooperation, United Nations, presented this paper at a seminar in Dhaka organised by Economic Relations Division on August 20, 2016. [email protected]