September 2015 witnessed an event at the UN General Assembly which may be a historic turning point for our planet or it may be a complete flop. What happened was that State Leaders (Prime Ministers and/or Presidents) from all the countries of this world committed themselves to achieve remarkable progress by defining 17 sustainable goals which shall be achieved by 2030. The title of the document is the same as the heading of this comment. It is divided in three parts: After a brief preamble – the Declaration itself is presented in 53 paragraphs (this is the most important part of the document), then the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG’s) are listed with targets – and then a road-map is outlined. In contrast to the Millennium Development Goals (see later) the SDG’s are universal and talks about the future and destiny of our planet.
The promises are huge (understatement!) in the Declaration:
Para 5: “This is an agenda of unprecedented scope and significance. It is accepted by all countries and is applicable to all, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. These are universal goals and targets which involve the entire world, developed and developing countries alike. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development.”
Para 7: ”We envision a world free of poverty, hunger, disease and want, where all life can thrive. We envision a world free of fear and violence. A world with universal literacy.---- A world where human habitat are safe, resilient and sustainable and where there is universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy”
Let us take a relevant example. One of the biggest challenges and tragedies in our part of the world – is the refugee crisis. Does the Declaration include this topic in any of their 53 paragraphs?? Yes indeed:
Para 29 : We recognize the positive contribution of migrants for inclusive growth and sustainable development. We also recognize that international migration is a multidimensional reality of major relevance for the development of countries of origin, transit and destination, which requires coherent and comprehensive responses. We will cooperate internationally to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration involving full respect for human rights and the humane treatment of migrants regardless of migration status, of refugees and displaced persons. Such cooperation should also strengthen the resilience of communities hosting refugees, particularly in developing countries. We underline the right of migrants to return to their country of citizenship, and recall that States must ensure that their returning nationals are duly received”
There are obviously many state leaders that should not have signed the Declaration – and it is all too easy to give examples. The part of the Declaration on refugees cited above is an appalling example where beautiful promises given by some countries are worthless. It remains to be seen whether the clear promises given in the Declaration will transform into better attitudes and conditions for helpless refugees.
The Declaration “Transforming our world” have led to activities in most countries. Sweden are a front-runner and have ambitions of remaining so. The Norwegian government has committed its various departments to follow their relevant SDG’s within their portfolio. Erna Solberg and President Mahama of Ghana are appointed co-chairs in an advocacy group that will advocate the SDG’s worldwide. Within the UN system the “High-level Political Forum” has been established in order to follow-up and review the 2030 agenda on a yearly basis. The first meeting was in July 2016 – and Norway was selected as one of 23 countries that reported on their experience with working with the SDG’s so far.
Without a political commitment the Declaration will be nothing but empty words – and in certain countries we can clearly see that commitments is violently absent. But in many countries such a commitment is indeed present – and the best evidence for that is the experience gained through the work on the Millenniumn Development Goals. These ambitious 8 goals became operative in the year 2.000 – as a gift of the political leaders to their people. The goals were directed towards the less developed countries and had as their overarching goal to reduce poverty, mortality and morbidity. The finishing line was December 2015. The results are encouraging. The Goals had a mobilizing effect on political motivation and leadership. They mobilized much more funds for global health. The number of children dying before their 5th birthday fell from 12 million to less than 7 million deaths per year and the maternal mortality was likewise reduced by about 50 per cent. It is in this spirit the SDG’s must continue. What we have witnessed is a political determination which is clearly present behind beautiful words. Not all the goals will be achieved – but hopefully - the direction will be right.