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| 17 Agendas of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Source: UN |
The UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon believes that the goals which targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change; “are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success” over the next 15 years. Broad and ambitious in scope, the Agenda addresses the three dimensions of sustainable development namely: social, economic and environmental, as well as important aspects related to peace, justice and effective institutions.
By their own admission, the UN acknowledged that not all the eight Millennium Development Goals set 15 years ago were met by the targeted deadline of September 2015. So one might begin to wonder why the need to set up another sets of goals without being unable to address the most basic of human needs. Access to clean water and sanitation is still a luxury for most of parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and indeed most part of the world.
According to UNICEF, no country in West and Central Africa has universal access to improved drinking water. Cooperating with World Health Organization (WHO), they released a Joint Monitoring Programme Report 2015, showing that the highest coverage rates are in Sao Tome & Principe (97%), Gabon (93%) and Cabo Verde (92%). At the other end of the spectrum there are countries where roughly half the population does not have access, with the lowest rates in Equatorial Guinea (48%), Chad (51%) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (52%).
Access to sanitation is even more challenging according to the report. In the countries with the best coverage, as many as one in four persons still lack adequate sanitation. Equatorial Guinea (75%), Cabo Verde (72%), and Gambia (59%) are the top three in terms of access. whilst the lowest coverage is in Niger (11%), Togo (12%), and Chad (12%). Globally, 663 million people still lack improved drinking water sources and a staggering 2.4 billion people still lack improved sanitation facilities as at 2015.
This should not be happening in the 21st century and the UN ought to be doing much more than just setting up mere fanciful agendas. Basic necessities such as water and sanitation should be accessible to everyone, no matter where you live. Aware of the fact that they are not doing enough, the UN stressed that; this time around targeted efforts will be needed to reach the most vulnerable people. And this is where the Sustainable Development Goals are expected to play a part. We therefore wait and see what happens by the year 2030 if we ever live to witness it.
Goal 1 and goal 2, no poverty and zero hunger !!! In 1970 estimated number of malnourished people in Africa was about 90 millions, 2010 is more than 400 millions of people. Every minute worldwide 5 children are dying of hunger and its proximate results.So how can we keep on living as we are doing although we know these things are happening? Martin Caparros asks this in his book ``Hunger`` in fact it is the title statement. It is so painfull and a silent death, nothing sensational, almost common. The goals are nice on the paper, we should not wait and see what happens till 2030 when we know the reasons of hunger. Thank you for the article and the plausible data.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely spot on! The world is such a sick place and the UN is just a barking dog. Simply setting up fanciful agendas without any realisation. What happened to the Millennium Development Goals set 15 years ago? Like you said everyday, countless number of people are dying due to poverty related illnesses. Yet we live in a world where the richest 1% of its population now owns 50% of its total wealth! Incredibly sad!!!
ReplyDeleteSure, also the so called Washington Consensus, SAP ( Structural Adjustment Program), free trade agreements of EEC, ruins the nations subsistence economies. EEC mainly follows his own economical interests with export of overspill products. EU hens to Kamerun, milk powder to Burkina Faso, tomatoes to Ghana... finding myself with my back against the wall ! Hypocrisy makes speechless.
ReplyDeleteI also find most of these agendas hypocritical! They are simply scripted statements that never turn out to be actioned.
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