How to Accelerate Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in the Global South: Experts Discuss Challenges at UN Conference
A Round Table on SDG financing in countries of the global South was held under the IV International Conference on Financing for Development. International experts, including Liliana Proskuryakova, Head of the ISSEK Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies, discussed the main challenges that developing countries face on the path to SDGs and ways to overcome them.
Key topics for discussion were the feasibility and achievability of the SDGs, as well as financing availability for the poorest countries. Representatives of the private sector, think tanks and international organisations raised important questions: Are the SDGs too numerous and complex to implement? Was the right wording and monitoring system chosen in 2015?
The UN SDG agenda adopted ten years ago defines 17 areas for developed and developing countries to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability. Thus, the SDGs include the elimination of poverty, hunger, inequality, the conservation of natural resources, the establishment of more lasting peace and justice, etc.
However, poor countries face a number of challenges in achieving the SDGs, including the high cost of borrowed capital, the lack of investment attractiveness of poverty reduction and climate change adaptation projects, and a low level of coordination between financial institutions and donor countries. Some participants advocated for a reduction in the number of goals and indicators, but most agreed that all goals were interrelated and achievable, but required an integrated, inter-agency approach.
Liliana Proskuryakova
“The SDGs are not too numerous or complex. They complement and reinforce each other. The best way to achieve them is through a comprehensive, coordinated approach to governance. Even if the goals are not fully achieved, they remain important development benchmarks. In 2015, when the SDGs were adopted, the role of science and media was underestimated: they can accelerate progress by offering technologies and disseminating knowledge.”
Participants noted that, in the context of limited international resources, an important role in promoting the SDGs belongs to regional integration associations, strategic partnerships between states, business and science, as well as initiatives aimed at reducing the debt burden and stimulating “green” investments.
The event became part of the official programme of the UN Conference on Financing for Development and demonstrated the importance of dialogue between developing countries, international institutions and the expert community.