New York: The United Nations issues a warning that only 17 percent of its 169 targets aimed at improving life for over 7 billion people globally are on track to be met by the 2030 deadline.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024. Guterres commended on the report that, “It shows the world is getting a failing grade.”
World leaders had adopted 17 wide-ranging development goals from ending global poverty to achieving gender equality in 2015, and set 169 specific targets to be reached by the end of the decade.
According to the report, nearly half the targets show minimal or moderate progress, and over one-third are stalled or regressing.
Guterres emphasised that, “Our failure to secure peace, to confront climate change, and to boost international finance is undermining development.”
The report also cited the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and said an additional 23 million people were pushed into extreme poverty and over 100 million more were suffering from hunger in 2022 compared to 2019.
“In a world of unprecedented wealth, knowledge, and technologies, the denial of basic needs for so many is outrageous and unacceptable,” Guterres remarked.
The UN reported that for the first time this century, per-capita GDP growth in half of the world’s most vulnerable nations is slower than that of advanced economies, threatening improvements in equality.
Education goals are far off track, with only 58 percent of students worldwide achieving minimum proficiency in reading by the end of primary school. Recent assessments reveal a significant decline in math and reading scores in many countries.
As for gender equality, the report said that the world continues to lag with one in five girls still marrying before age 18, violence against women persists, and far too many women don’t have the right to decide on their sexual and reproductive health.
Guterres highlighted that the report also has “some glimmers of hope.” Mobile broadband is now accessible to 95 percent of the world’s population. Global capacity to generate electricity from renewable has been expanding at an unprecedented 8.1 percent annually for the past five years, the report said.
Increased access to treatment has averted 20.8 million AIDS-related deaths in the past three decades. New malaria vaccines being rolled out could save millions of lives. Girls in most regions are now achieving parity with boys in education.
Guterres called for action to end wars from Gaza to Ukraine, Sudan, and beyond, “and to pivot from spending on destruction and war to investing in people and peace.” The secretary-general demanded greater action to combat climate change and on “the green and digital transitions.”
According to the report, there is a $4 trillion annual gap in the investments needed to help developing countries reach sustainable development goals.
“We must not let up on our promises to end poverty, protect the planet, and leave no one behind,” the secretary-general calls for stepped-up efforts to achieve it.
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