By Maryamu Aminu, Heirs Holdings
For over a decade, global discourse and programs to support international development have largely taken place within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Announced at the UN General Assembly in 2000, the MDGs were 8 global goals that both donor and developing countries agreed to work collaboratively on and achieve results within the time frame of 2000 to 2015. Chief among these was the goal to cut extreme poverty by half (the number of people living on less than $1.25 per day).
Well, it is 2015, and the results have been mixed. Some countries, particularly in Asia, have done very well in meeting their region specific goals, but Africa has largely been the region that has made the least progress in achieving their set goals. However, North Africa, Madagascar, Ghana, Namibia and Botswana have made measurable progress in meeting the goals. Sadly, Nigeria the most populous country is in the bottom 10 countries, even in our region, on meeting the MDGs, particularly in the areas of maternal mortality and basic education. We’ve only made real progress in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Since 2010, the UN has been working with global stakeholders all over the world to develop a new set of global goals to take us to the year 2030. This time they have come up with 17 proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), top amongst which is eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. These goals are expected to be adopted at the UN General Assembly of Heads of State in New York next month.
The proposed goals are pasted below. As you know, The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s mission is to support African development by promoting Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness. There is no specific “Entrepreneurship” SDG, even though we know it is an important way out of poverty. However, Goal No. 8 on “Jobs” contains specific language to “promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises including through access to financial
services.” Interestingly, as a matter of advocacy, our group Chairman scored big in the proposed list. Last April, he was asked to speak to the UN General Assembly and ECOSOC about “Partnership with the private sector on the post-2015 Development Agenda”- and he used that time to call for “Access-to-Electricity” and “Jobs” to be among the next MDGs. They both made it into the list as Goals 7 & 8!!! Congratulations to the Chairman for 100% success in his UN advocacy around the SDGs! And going forward, we all know what the Heirs Holdings favorite SDGs are for the next fifteen years!!
Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
- Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
- Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
- Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
- Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
- Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
- Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
- Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
- Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
- Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
- Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
- Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
- Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
- Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
