The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were achieved 10 years ago to ensure peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and in the future. But by 2030, they are less likely to be – all due to underinvestment over a decade, and more recently, aid cuts from major donors such as the United States and many European countries.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
In 2015, the United Nations provided 17 goals to address global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, conflict and injustice. The vision is to end barriers such as discrimination, exclusion, and inequality that often leave the most vulnerable behind. The Sustainable Development Goals replaced the Millennium Development Goals for 2000-2015, which has made some progress in areas such as poverty reduction, education and health. However, most of the progress in this progress is uneven inequality in the deepening of inequality between and within countries.
Will the Sustainable Development Goals be achieved by 2030?
Currently, there are no – five years left to achieve the SDGs, and they are increasingly off-track.
Inadequate investment in all states means that more than 80% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets are increasing. In July 2023, midway through the SDGs, the United Nations reported that more than half of the SDGs progress was “weak and underdeveloped”, while the other 30% of the SDGs were “stagnant or reversed.” These include key objectives of action on poverty, hunger and climate.
What does this mean for our world?
Existing inequality between and within countries may be further out of control due to a series of global crises, including the pandemic on the 19th, climate change and economic downturn.
The climate crisis and weaknesses in the current financial system are making debt repayable further by low-income and middle-income countries. This is because generally, the only option to cover the losses and damages caused by climate change is to seek additional loans. The risk of spiral debt or risk of debt, not in debt repayment, but in public services necessary for people’s rights to health and education, exacerbates the cycle of vulnerability.
How does human rights affect?
In the absence of real progress in the Sustainable Development Goals, the prospect of human rights is worrying.
The United Nations estimates that by 2030, 585 million people will be undernourished for a long time, 1.66 billion people will still live in extreme poverty, 84 million children will leave school, 300 million schools will not be able to read and write, and 660 million people will leave 660 million.
What does finance have to do with achieving these goals?
everything!
The global financial system structure stems from the ongoing legacy of historical inequality and colonialism, which has left many low-income countries with unsustainable debt, depriving them of the resources they need to fund the Sustainable Development Goals. The tax evasion and avoidance of multinational corporations and the wealthy is estimated to be $492 billion a year. This is lost income that can be spent on improving the opportunity for everyone to gain economic, social and cultural rights.
How do cuts in international aid affect the SDGs?
Food rations have been cut in refugee camps. HIV/AIDS clinics have been closed overnight and people have not received antiretroviral treatment. Almost half of women’s leaders and women’s organizations in the UN Women’s Survey expect to close within six months if current funding levels continue – gender-based violence initiatives are the most risky. The list continues.
There is a lot of discussion about US tariffs. What are they and how do they affect human rights?
Tariffs are taxes imposed by the government on imported services and goods.
Tariffs are both tools in international trade policy and industrial policy in which they can be used to protect the household industry. The Trump administration has used extensive and arbitrary tariffs as a political tool to pressure dozens of countries, including Canada, China, and Mexico, and many smaller economies, and impose them in a range of discounts. The policy did not take into account the impact on people’s rights and it attacked some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries.
Tariffs may have cascading effects on living conditions, employment, access to basic commodities and economic sovereignty, all of which can undermine human rights. Tariffs on basic imports such as medicine, food or fuel may make these and other essential necessities unbearable in smaller or lower-income countries.
What have high-income countries do when ensuring that these goals are achieved?
Actually, this is not enough. In fact, many major Western donors have not increased their funds to support the Sustainable Development Goals, but have cut international aid and created a huge crisis.
However, there are other ways to help in high-income countries. They should be committed to structural reforms that can provide a source of sustainable financing for the long term – from advancing international tax cooperation, addressing the debt crisis, to reforming international financial institutions and promoting more inclusive financing and development systems.
so what able Want to achieve these goals?
If we are to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals, a strong set of measures must be taken.
The U.S. and other governments must revoke cuts to help with the budget. States must provide debt relief to countries with undebt risk. Subsidies for fossil fuels must be redirected to investment in clean energy, and leaders must commit to a comprehensive, rapid, equitable and funded fossil fuel phase in all sectors and make full investments in a just and equitable transition.
Taking these measures will go a long way to rescue the SDGs and ensure social, economic and climate justice across millions of globally.
What is the amnesty for development financing?
Amnesty International calls for a broad shift in development finance, taxation, debt, and public and private investment to ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. This will ensure that low-income countries are financially more available and affordable to achieve their human rights obligations.
These changes must be carried out quickly to meet the international obligations of the states to provide international cooperation and assistance to ensure human rights through the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights.
