The MDGs played an important role in focusing the world’s attention on reducing extreme poverty, yet progress has been incomplete. As of 2011, the percent of people in extreme poverty (living on less than $1.90 a day) in sub-Saharan Africa was 44.3%, and in South Asia was 22.3%[1.7]. In particular, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small-island developing states remain behind, as they face structural barriers to development. In many societies the most vulnerable populations have made little progress. Mass migration, often caused by violence and conflict, has led to massive displacement, instability, and large populations living in dangerously overcrowded refugee camps and informal settlements. Gender inequality remains widespread, as many young girls are deprived of education and forced into early marriages.
Under the MDGs the world has made tremendous progress in reducing child mortality, but six million children still die each year from preventable causes[1.8]. Maternal mortality rates have come down in most countries, but not sufficiently to meet the MDG. Large numbers of people do not have access to affordable primary health care [see Tracking universal health coverage: First global monitoring report], and major efforts are needed to ensure universal access to basic infrastructure, including energy, water, sanitation, and transport.
While a lot of progress has been made in increasing primary school enrollment in all countries, completion rates remain low, and far too many children do not complete a full cycle of education from early-childhood development through to secondary school completion. Approximately 800 million people remain chronically undernourished[1.9] and do not have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Another billion or so face various kinds of micronutrient deficiencies [see The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015]. For these reasons the SDGs commit to ending extreme poverty in all its forms, including hunger, and call on all people to enjoy universal access to essential social services and basis infrastructure by 2030.
Extreme poverty has been cut by more than half since 1990. Still, around 1 in 10 people live on less than the target figure of international-$1.25 per day.[23] A very low poverty threshold is justified by highlighting the need of those people who are worst off.[24] SDG 1 is to end extreme poverty globally by 2030.
That target may not be adequate for human subsistence and basic needs, however.[25] It is for this reason that changes relative to higher poverty lines are also commonly tracked.[26] Poverty is more than the lack of income or resources: People live in poverty if they lack basic services such as healthcare, security, and education. They also experience hunger, social discrimination, and exclusion from decision-making processes. One possible alternative metric is the Multidimensional Poverty Index.[27]
Children make up the majority – more than half – of those living in extreme poverty. In 2013, an estimated 385 million children lived on less than US$1.90 per day.[28] Still, these figures are unreliable due to huge gaps in data on the status of children worldwide. On average, 97 percent of countries have insufficient data to determine the state of impoverished children and make projections towards SDG Goal 1, and 63 percent of countries have no data on child poverty at all.[28]
Women face potentially life-threatening risks from early pregnancy and frequent pregnancies. This can result in lost hope for an education and for a better income.[citation needed] Poverty affects age groups differently, with the most devastating effects experienced by children. It affects their education, health, nutrition, and security, impacting emotional and spiritual development.
Achieving Goal 1 is hampered by lack of economic growth in the poorest countries of the world, growing inequality, increasingly fragile statehood, and the impacts of climate change.
Goal 2 states that by 2030 we should end hunger and all forms of malnutrition. This would be accomplished by doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers (especially women and indigenous peoples), by ensuring sustainable food production systems, and by progressively improving land and soil quality. Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40% of the global population. It is the largest source of income for poor rural households. Women make up about 43% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, and over 50% in parts of Asia and Africa. However, women own only 20% of the land.
Other targets deal with maintaining genetic diversity of seeds, increasing access to land, preventing trade restriction and distortions in world agricultural markets to limit extreme food price volatility, eliminating waste with help from the International Food Waste Coalition, and ending malnutrition and undernutrition of children.
Globally, 1 in 9 people are undernourished, the vast majority of whom live in developing countries. Undernutrition causes wasting or severe wasting of 52 million children worldwide,[30] and contributes to nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children per year.[31] Chronic malnutrition, which affects an estimated 155 million children worldwide, also stunts children’s brain and physical development and puts them at further risk of death, disease, and lack of success as adults.[30] As of 2017, only 26 of 202 UN member countries are on track to meet the SDG target to eliminate undernourishment and malnourishment, while 20 percent have made no progress at all and nearly 70 percent have no or insufficient data to determine their progress.[30]
A report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of 2013 stated that the emphasis of the SDGs should not be on ending poverty by 2030, but on eliminating hunger and under-nutrition by 2025.[32] The assertion is based on an analysis of experiences in China, Vietnam, Brazil, and Thailand. Three pathways to achieve this were identified: 1) agriculture-led; 2) social protection- and nutrition- intervention-led; or 3) a combination of both of these approaches.[32]
A study published in Nature concluded that it is unlikely there will be an end to malnutrition by 2030.
Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Between 2000 and 2016, the worldwide under-five mortality rate decreased by 47 percent (from 78 deaths per 1,000 live births to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births).[30] Still, the number of children dying under age five is extremely high: 5.6 million in 2016 alone.[30] Newborns account for a growing number of these deaths, and poorer children are at the greatest risk of under-5 mortality due to a number of factors.[30] SDG Goal 3 aims to reduce under-five mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births. But if current trends continue, more than 60 countries will miss the SDG neonatal mortality target for 2030. About half of these countries would not reach the target even by 2050.[30]
Goal 3 also aims to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births.[35] Though the maternal mortality ratio declined by 37 percent between 2000 and 2015, there were approximately 303,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2015, most from preventable causes.[30] In 2015, maternal health conditions were also the leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19.[30] Data for girls of greatest concern – those aged between 10-14 – is currently unavailable. Key strategies for meeting SDG Goal 3 will be to reduce adolescent pregnancy (which is strongly linked to gender equality), provide better data for all women and girls, and achieve universal coverage of skilled birth attendants.[30]
Similarly, progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation and on reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio, and the spread of HIV/AIDS. From 2000–2016, new HIV infections declined by 66 percent for children under 15 and by 45 percent among adolescents aged 15–19.[30] However, current trends mean that 1 out of 4 countries still won’t meet the SDG target to end AIDS among children under 5, and 3 out of 4 will not meet the target to end AIDS among adolescents.[30] Additionally, only half of women in developing countries have received the health care they need, and the need for family planning is increasing exponentially as the population grows. While needs are being addressed gradually, more than 225 million women have an unmet need for contraception.
Goal 3 aims to achieve universal health coverage, including access to essential medicines and vaccines.[35] It proposes to end the preventable death of newborns and children under 5 and to end epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and water-borne diseases, for example.[35] 2016 rates for the third dose of the pertussis vaccine (DTP3) and the first dose of the measles vaccine (MCV1) reached 86 percent and 85 percent, respectively. Yet about 20 million children did not receive DTP3 and about 21 million did not receive MCV1.[30] Around 2 in 5 countries will need to accelerate progress in order to reach SDG targets for immunization.[30]
Attention to health and well-being also includes targets related to the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, deaths and injuries from traffic accidents and from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.
Major progress has been made in access to education, specifically at the primary school level, for both boys and girls. The number of out-of-school children has almost halved from 112 million in 1997 to 60 million in 2014.[37] Still, at least 22 million children in 43 countries will miss out on pre-primary education unless the rate of progress doubles.[30]
Access does not always mean quality of education or completion of primary school. 103 million youth worldwide still lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 percent of those are women. In one out of four countries, more than half of children failed to meet minimum math proficiency standards at the end of primary school, and at the lower secondary level, the rate was 1 in 3 countries.[30] Target 1 of Goal 4 is to ensure that, by 2030, all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education.
Additionally, progress is difficult to track: 75 percent of countries have no or insufficient data to track progress towards SDG Goal 4 targets for learning outcomes (target 1), early childhood education (target 2), and effective learning environments.[30] Data on learning outcomes and pre-primary school are particularly scarce; 70 percent and 40 percent of countries lack adequate data for these targets, respectively.[30] This makes it hard to analyze and identify the children at greatest risk of being left behind. A 2019 study used computer modeling to estimate educational attainment for men and women from 2000–2017, mapping the results for each country to help identify areas lagging behind.
According to the UN, “gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.”[40] Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will nurture sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. A record 143 countries guaranteed equality between men and women in their constitutions as of 2014. However, another 52 had not taken this step. In many nations, gender discrimination is still woven into the fabric of legal systems and social norms. Even though SDG5 is a stand-alone goal, other SDGs can only be achieved if the needs of women receive the same attention as the needs of men. Issues unique to women and girls include traditional practices against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, such as female genital mutilation.
Child marriage has declined over the past decades, yet there is no region that is currently on track to eliminate the practice and reach SDG targets by 2030.[30] If current trends continue, between 2017 and 2030, 150 million girls will be married before they turn 18.[30] Though child marriages are four times higher among the poorest than the wealthiest in the world, most countries need to accelerate progress among both groups in order to reach the SDG Goal 5 target to eliminate child marriage by 2030.[30]
Achieving gender equality will require enforceable legislation that promotes empowerment of all women and girls and requires secondary education for all girls.[41] The targets call for an end to gender discrimination and for empowering women and girls through technology[42] Some have advocated for “listening to girls”. The assertion is that the SDGs can deliver transformative change for girls only if girls are consulted. Their priorities and needs must be taken into account. Girls should be viewed not as beneficiaries of change, but as agents of change. Engaging women and girls in the implementation of the SDGs is crucial.[43]
The World Pensions Council (WPC) has insisted on the transformational role gender-diverse that boards can play in that regard, predicting that 2018 could be a pivotal year, as “more than ever before, many UK and European Union pension trustees speak enthusiastically about flexing their fiduciary muscles for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG5, and to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how made them feel.
