Decade of Action to Achieve SDGs Despite COVID-19 Setbacks

In 2015, World Leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  The 17 SDGs call for action by all countries to promote prosperity while maintaining peace, protecting the planet, the people and building partnerships. With only ten years remaining to achieve these goals, countries are accelerating steps towards ending poverty, fighting inequalities, tackling climate change and ensuring that no one is left behind.  Every month, the United Nations places one of the 17 SDGs under the spotlight, highlighting its purpose, targets and criticality in advancing Agenda 2030. This month’s focus is on all the 17 goals.

2020 will be remembered as one of  the most difficult years in the history of humankind. COVID-19 upended our lives and plunged the world into suffering and grievance. So many loved ones have been lost and the pandemic rages on, resulting in endless waves of sickness and death.

It is also the year in which World Leaders  and the people reaffirmed  our global commitment towards achieving the 2030 agenda. With less than 10 years left to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is more important than ever for the global community to continue mobilising for SDGs accelerated action.

As we walk into 2021, it is with courage and faith that we see rays of hope. If we work together in unity and solidarity, we will continue to protect ourselves and others from this deadly pandemic. We will appreciate more our frontline workers who are risking their own lives to save others. We will also ensure the equitable distribution of life-saving vaccines to everyone, regardless of their geographical location and status.

Working together will also ensure that we have a more cohesive United Nations in which the worth and dignity of every individual is valued and respected. There is no doubt that the private sector will continue to play a pivotal in lifting countries out of the dire effects of COVID-19.

Eswatini is commended for pioneering a journey towards economic recovery beyond the coronavirus pandemic. Such efforts present us with a renewed sense of hope as well as the opportunity to address inequalities that existed even prior to the pandemic.

Although our hopes for the future felt crumbled for some time due to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, our vision remains the same: “a better world in which nobody is left behind”. The United Nations Development System in Eswatini continues to support Government’s and partners’ efforts aimed at making vaccines available and affordable to all in the Kingdom. While the

As the country’s health system continues to be under severe strain from the increasing number of new infections and deaths, we cannot afford to let our guard down. We need to be more vigilant than ever. We commend His Majesty’s Government and partners for responding swiftly and tirelessly to the pandemic. Despite the onset of a second wave which has increased the number of coronavirus cases and deaths, the Government, partners and individuals have been relentless in the fight against this pandemic. This solidarity and support has been invaluable in protecting the lives and livelihoods of Emaswati. We cannot afford to weaken this bond of strength needed sustain this lengthy fight against COVID-19.

In his New Year message, the UN Secretary General has urged every nation to work towards ensuring that 2021 is a year of healing: healing from the impact of a deadly virus, healing broken economies and societies, healing divisions and starting to heal the planet, as Mr. Antonio Guterres stressed.

In this last Decade of Action, the involvement of all sectors of society is required at three levels: global action, local action and people action. Global action is needed to secure greater leadership, more resources and more solutions for the SDGs; local action must be taken to embed the necessary transitions in policies, budgets, frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities; and people action - including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, academia and unions - is vital to create an unstoppable movement towards achieving transformation.

We are reminded in this regard of the words of the inspirational Helen Keller, American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer, who said: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten to divide the world, we have witnessed an incredible coming together of families, communities, nations, regions and the world-over. Our cohesive spirit has allowed hope to filter into the hearts of many; and it is with this spirit that we must continue to work towards achieving the SDGs.

At the core of Decade of Action is the urgent need for action to tackle growing poverty, empower women and girls, and address the climate emergency. The Decade of Action, as reaffirmed by the Secretary General on 28 January 2021, seeks to mobilize everyone, everywhere; ask for transformative economic, social and environmental solutions; demand urgency and ambition as well as supercharge ideas to solutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on all 17 SDGs have shown that what began as a health crisis has quickly become a human and socio-economic crisis. While the crisis is imperilling progress towards the SDGs, it also makes their achievement all the more urgent and necessary. It is essential that recent gains are protected as much as possible. A transformative recovery from COVID- 19 should be pursued, one that addresses the crisis and reduces risks from future crises.

In 2021, the UN is setting priorities for a “world where everyone thrives in Peace, Dignity and Equality on a Healthy Planet.” As the world tries to recover, the UN has set the following priority themes: Climate Action; Fight inequality; Realise Gender Equality; Mobilize for Decade of Action; Human Rights as well as Peace and Security.

COVID-19 has driven us farther off-course from achieving the vision and promise of the 2030 Agenda. We need all sectors of society to get involved in the ‘Decade of Action’ to ensure that we are back on track.

As of January 2021, more than two million people have lost their lives around the world, as many more continue to battle for theirs. Health systems have faced collapse and the global workforce has been severely affected. 1.6 billion students were and are out of school, with 1 in 3 students missing out on remote learning.

As highlighted in the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020, much progress has been made towards achieving the SDGs despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, globally, access to maternal and child health has improved.  In Eswatini, we have seen improvements in food security as local agricultural production increased during the lockdown. Many students were able to prepare and write examinations through the use of multimedia interventions to support them.  But still, persistent inequalities, gender-based violence and the accelerating climate changeare threatening to undo these significant gains.

Although the novel coronavirus knows no boundaries and has affected every nation across the globe, its effects are unequal. The ever-increasing inequalities and injustices amongst society have been unravelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. In more economically developed countries, fatality rates have been highest amongst marginalized groups, whilst the most vulnerable groups – including persons living with disabilities, older people, women, children, migrants and refugees - in developing countries have been hit hardest. Poverty is increasing rapidly, at an alarming rate and an additional 71 million people were pushed into poverty in 2020.

Africa is at risk of leaving more people behind as poverty is declining at a much slower pace than in other regions. Recent economic contraction, spurred on by the health pandemic, is expected to push a further 26 million women in sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty. There is a desperate need to avidly focus on Goal 1: ‘No Poverty’ across the African continent, if we are to see a better future for all.

Climate change also poses as a significant threat to the prosperity of the African continent and the attainment of the region’s development goals. Thus, the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic must be greener and all nations be on an inclusive low-carbon pathway that is resilient to climate change and in which natural resources are managed sustainably for improved livelihoods, health and food security.In this regard, nature-based solutions are critical to preserving resources; something that  is essential for the many people living in rural areas, of whom 62 percent depend on ecosystem services for their livelihoods.

African countries have planned clean energy actions for 22,000 megawatts of energy, as recognised in their Nationally Determined Contributions on climate change, representing an investment opportunity of approximately USD 40 billion.

International solidarity is key to overcoming the pandemic, building back better and ensuring that noone is left behind as our nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerates efforts to achieve Agenda 2030.

The United Nations Development System in Eswatini continues to stand in solidarity with the people of the Kingdom of Eswatini and His Majesty’s Government, including through the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2021-2025 signed with the Government in October 2020. UNSDCF 2021-2025 provides a pathway to achieving Agenda 2030 and recovering better from the COVID-19 pandemic,  an essential guide in this last Decade of Action.