The Progress

 

A Decade of Action

The SDG’s have a 2030 deadline for implementation. In 2019, the UN Secretary General, Anónio Gutteres, called for a decade of action across three essential areas. ‘Global Action’ calling for bold leadership, ‘local action’ to make a real difference in people’s lives, and ‘people action’ to mobilize partnerships, hold leaders to account and for people to make the Global Goals their own.

However, the COVID-19 has slowed progress dramatically for many of the SDG’s, heightening the need for their implementation now more than ever.

We were already far behind in terms of progress for some of the SDG’s. Healthcare was already off track for it’s 2030 target, and the gains already made, such as the halving of malaria cases, have been greatly threatened by coronavirus. In addition to this, lockdowns deprived children with no internet access from getting an education, and one in six young people have lost their jobs since the beginning of the pandemic.

Still, the SDG’s provide us with a roadmap to sustainable recovery from the pandemic that we must work towards to ensure a better future for all.