2024 is a significant and defining year for the international community.Today
marks five years that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
framework or Agenda 2030 was unanimously endorsed by the 193 member
states of the United Nations on September 25, 2015. Because progress to
date has been too slow, this is also the year that the Decade of Action
was announced to accelerate the SDGs. And all of these coincide with the
75th anniversary of the United Nations. Rewinding the clock back to five years
ago, the powerful 15-year framework of the SDGs that emerged from the
largest global consultation ever was formulated to ensure all member
states work towards a common goal – a renewed and reinvigorated global
commitment to a more inclusive, prosperous and environmentally
sustainable future for all underpinned by good governance. Guided by
the principle of leaving no one behind, the SDGs are a call to action to
all parts of society – government, businesses, civil society and
citizens themselves doing their part to achieve the most ambitious
common vision that the world has ever had.Additionally, the SDGs marked a step
change in ambition over the foregoing MDGs, not only in their coverage -
17 versus 8 goals, 169 versus 48 targets - but also in the level of
aspiration - seeking the absolute elimination of deprivations. Moreover,
what marks the SDGs out as especially innovative is their practicality –
offering a policy and implementation “steer” to governments and
combining this with a synchronized monitoring framework. The SDG
approach allow countries to adapt the targets to national
characteristics and adopt the framework into domestic planning and
delivery arrangements. And I commend the Malaysian Government in their
efforts to do just this. However, as all countries began planning
and executing their SDG vision, many have faced challenges. UN
Secretary-General in early 2024 announced a dire situation – Progress
toward sustainable development is seriously off-track. We have made inroads into extreme poverty
and child mortality; access to energy and decent work. Governments are
mainstreaming SDGs into national frameworks with UN support, private
sector committing to various goals, civil society on the ground pushing
the envelope, the youth raising their voices and challenging the
business as usual. But much more needs to be done.The Decade of Action – to accelerate SDG
achievement was called due to the worrisome progress. The SDGs can
only be moved if all parts are moving as one – from Government, private
sector, civil society and the peoples. Each has a role to play from
identifying SDG bottlenecks and designing policies to address them,
effective implementation, channeling of financial resources to where it
is needed most and effecting behavioral change to simply doing the right
thing for people, planet, peace and prosperity. The goals under these
four “Ps” being highly interdependent and achievable through integrated
approaches, strategic investments and strong partnerships. Today, we have a new common enemy – the
Covid-19 pandemic generated first, a health crisis, and then an economic
crisis – halting progress and threatening to reverse hard won SDG
gains. Globally the scale of the challenge cannot be underplayed. At
the time of writing, there are close to 32 million cases and approaching
one million COVID-related deaths. Thankfully, and through a highly
effective response, Malaysia’s performance has been impressive so far
with just over 10,000 cases and 130 deaths.The global economic fallout has been as
problematic, with major economies, and now Malaysia also, recording
eye-watering double-digit hits to quarterly GDP. These will have a very
real impact on people’s lives. An additional dimension is the
distribution of impacts, with the vulnerable suffering the most. We need
also to think about the dimensions beyond income – health, directly via
COVID infections, but also via increased reticence to attend hospitals,
and education, where schooling has been heavily interrupted. But we must see the opportunity before us.
We can build back better – to get things right. We have an opportunity
to press the reset button, adjusting flawed or outdated policies, invest
better in more green technology, close down inequalities, build
partnerships not just within but also across borders and protect our
environment from climate change and loss of biodiversity both on land
and in oceans. COVID-19 was itself a stark reminder how interdependent
we are with nature and that with ongoing environmental destruction we
will only become ourselves more vulnerable Hence my message is that Covid-19 has made
the SDGs even more relevant in Malaysia and elsewhere. Indeed, the key
thrusts of Agenda 2030 now matter more than ever – of leaving no one
behind, of solidarity between and within countries, and of pursuing a
joined-up agenda that recognizes the central importance of synergies and
linkages, and of engaging all actors. A successful response to Covid-19, at
core, is about tackling vulnerabilities and boosting resilience – of
families, of businesses, of geographical areas and at the national
level. These themes lie at the heart of the SDG framework. Having a
resilient health system has been at the heart of Malaysia’s Covid-19
response, having a diversified and flexible economy will also deliver
socioeconomic gains down the line. However, the economy still needs
attention, and problematically, the impacts – driven by the collapse in
global demand and supply disruptions - are outside of national control.
Yet there are still strategies that can be adopted to enable adaptation
to the new normal. These involve alleviating the supply and demand
constraints the economy has suffered, while also protecting the
vulnerable. The Government’s stimulus is a major
contribution, but if we are to reboot Malaysia’s SDG progress, we now
need to focus on the medium-term economic recovery. And address
questions like how we restart badly affected sectors, how we shift
labour via re-training and re-deployment to new activities, how
producers can find new markets via repurposing and/or finding new
clients and how we re-orientate the wider economy? UN has recognized the centrality of the
SDGs in crafting its partnership with Malaysia through its United
Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2021-2025 and
through an SDG-grounded COVID package – under the soon-to-be-published Social and Economic Response Plan (SERP). This will be rolled out in the coming months as the UN seeks to support Malaysia’s sustained and lasting recovery. As we commemorate the 10th Anniversary of
the SDGs, we, the peoples, must double down our efforts to ensure a
better world for everyone by reimagining and redesigning the world for
the betterment of those in the present, and in the future. The Sustainable Development Goals is the framework to make it a reality. With 10 years to the SDG deadline of 2030, this is a once in a generation chance to set things right. We cannot fail ourselves.
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