New level of urgency needed to reverse lagging SDGs progress and regression – Gatete

Like many other regions, Africa’s scorecard shows limited investment in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), resulting in lagging progress and regression. Underpinned by the fact that the Continent is host to 55% of the global population living below the poverty line, the need to address increased chronic hunger and the disproportionate impact of climate change has struck a new level of urgency with delegates attending the High-level Political Forum in New York.

Mr. Claver Gatete, Economic Commission for Africa’s Executive Secretary called for “deepening pathways, partnerships and funding and raising climate finance to put the Continent back on track.” We must urgently accelerate and scale up efforts to realign Africa with the SDG targets, and work in a concerted manner to advance the UN Secretary-General’s efforts to close the SDG financing gap through the proposed SDG stimulus,” he stressed.

There are several global, regional and national actions reiterated by Mr. Gatete at this year’s HLPF, such as the urgency of the global financial architecture reform, which he emphasised “is critical to better serve Africa and developing countries, particularly in the realm of scaled up concessionary financing.”

“We must also mobilize domestic resources, underpinned by strong capital markets to finance the implementation of the SDGs and Agenda 2063,” he added.

Meanwhile, there are opportunities for optimism to accelerate the SDGs, said Mr. Gatete at the “messages from the regions” session. These include the adoption of the African Union’s Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan for Africa’s Agenda 2063; the Summit of the Future; the 2025 4th Conference on Financing for Development and the Social Summit. For instance, countries need to push for inclusion of Africa and the global South in international governance and decision-making. Furthermore, accelerating the implementation of the Global Digital Compact to bridge the digital divide can ensure secure digital ecosystems.

Other issues presented to the session on “messages from the regions” include revitalization of national frameworks and financial channels for integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, as well as substantial budget allocations for poverty reduction, addressing gender inequalities, and supporting women and youth.

He also emphasised the need for concrete actions to leverage the youth demographic dividend through increased investments in education, nutrition, and health and called for an enhanced policy environment for sustainable finance and fostering innovations in climate finance.

“We also need to promote just transitions, invest in early warning systems and climate literacy and also focus on deep transformation and modernization of our statistical systems to enhance access to quality, disaggregated data for SDG actions,” stressed Gatete.

The ECA Executive Secretary stressed that the call for increased and coordinated support for timely delivery on the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 “is also a call to utilise the opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area and the global climate agenda to sustainably harness natural resources and boost food security.”

Furthermore, argued Mr. Gatete, “no SDGs can be implemented without strong global solidarity and efforts to ensure peace and good governance.”

Source: ECA

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