Having Realistic Goals
•Upcoming UN summit will witness member states adopting a set of Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved over next 15 years
•The earlier adapted set of goals known as Millennium Development Goals (MDG) failed to achieve their objective on account of being narrowly focused
•MDG overlooked gender inequality as well as holistic nature of development
•India’s performance has been satisfactory on issues such as combating hunger and poverty, the country needs to focus on gender equality
It’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second visit as head of government to the United States from September 24-28, 2015. The ostensible official purpose is to participate in the UN Sustainability Summit which will adopt the ambitious document on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved over next 15 years.
SDGs expand the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were adopted in 2000 and which will lapse at the end of 2015.
UN member states decided at the Rio+20 Summit in 2012 to craft SDGs which are “action-oriented, concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities”.
Myopic Focus
MDGs encapsulated eight goals in areas of poverty alleviation, education, gender equality and empowerment of women, child and maternal health, environmental sustainability, reducing HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, and building a global partnership for development.
While MDGs provided a framework for governments to develop policies and tailor-made programmes to end poverty and improve lives of poor people, they were too narrow.
They failed to consider the root causes of poverty, overlooked gender inequality as well as holistic nature of development.
While in theory, MDGs applied to all countries, in reality they were considered targets for poor countries to achieve, with finance from wealthy states.
Conversely, every country will be expected to work towards achieving SDGs which have been deliberated upon extensively with active participation of governments, private business, academia, civil society, think tanks and media to craft them.
Far-Fetched Targets
SDGs consist of 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of issues including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.
India’s performance in achieving MDGs has been less than inspiring. While progress on issues like combating hunger and poverty, and primary education is appreciable, its performance on gender equality and empowerment, reducing child and infant mortality and improving access to sanitation is far from satisfactory.
Several analysts have observed that list of 17 goals and 169 targets is far too long and complex for countries to monitor and implement effectively. MDGs with much smaller number of goals (8), targets (18) and indicators (48) were found difficult to handle by governments.
Implementation of the Goals
Financing is a critical element in achieving these objectives. It is universally recognised that SDGs represent a political commitment undertaken by all countries. They are not purely technical as were the MDGs.
It will not be possible for national governments acting alone to meet these objectives. All stake-holders including private business, academia, civil society, think tanks and media will have to work together to achieve the desired results.
A daunting challenge for most countries would be to create the necessary human capital to formulate modalities for implementation of the goals. It would be necessary for different departments of governments to act in synergy with each other and not function in silos. Most goals are inter-related and progress in one demands forward movement in several others.
Poverty eradication, climate change, environmental protection, gender equality, education, health, food and energy security are issues that are closely linked with each other.
Success of SDGs worldwide will hinge on achievement of these goals by India. India’s challenge is intimidating because one third of the world’s poor live in India. Huge effort and investment, financial and human capital, will be required to make a significant dent in their condition.
The recently enacted law by which large corporates are mandated to contribute 2% of their profits towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities provides an important avenue to generate resources for achieving the SDGs.
What India Needs to Do?
SDGs need a bottom-up strategy for implementation with a top-down monitoring. Panchayats are the focal points but their capacity is limited.
The NITI Aayog assigned with this responsibility is young and inexperienced. Considerable action will need to be taken at state level for which their capabilities will need to be substantially enhanced.
Civil society and NGOs will need to be brought on board so that they become committed partners in this endeavour. Absence of reliable and au courant data is a big handicap which will need to be addressed effectively. It is essential to integrate SDGs with domestic policy initiatives of employment generation and empowerment like Make in India, skill development etc.
It is necessary to significantly increase GDP growth so that additional resources become available which should be deployed in pro-poor programmes to register significant impact on living conditions of the marginalised.
At the national and the state level, all political parties will need to work together to adopt policies and enact laws to provide a life of dignity to common people.
Challenge for India is formidable but not impossible. SDGs are not just a legal requirement but also a moral obligation. Their attainment will prove transformative for India.
(The writer is Secretary, National Foundation for Communal Harmony. He is also a former Indian ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia)
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