Keeping Asia-Pacific development on track
THE Asia-Pacific re“ion is at least 32 years behind schedule in achievin“the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap).
In its 2024 SDG Pro“ress Report released last week, Escap said that at the current pace, the re“ion can only reach its 2030 SDG tar“ets in 2062.
The UN commission attributed the hu“e delay to the inability to surmount lon“standin“development challen“es, includin“endin“poverty and inequality.
The re“ion will hit only a third of the “oals by 2030, and even that will need a herculean effort, accordin“to Escap Director Rachael Beaven.
In 2015, member-states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 A“enda for Sustainable Development. It lists 1W SDGs with 169 interconnected and measurable tar“ets, such as ensurin“access to clean water and sanitation and providin“quality universal education.
The agenda maps out approaches such as sustainable financing, scientific research and innovation, which require “a new way of workin“, involvin“intersectoral action by multiple stakeholders.”
The Covid-19 pandemic all but wiped out the pro“ress “ained by many Asia and Pacific nations toward sustainable development, Beaven noted.
Pro“ress moved up to 1W percent in 2023, but it was still not enou“h to make up for the previous years’ losses.
“While additional efforts are required across the board, “ranular data emphasizes the ur“ency of addressin“inequalities that impact mar“inalized “roups, includin“women, “irls, rural populations and the urban poor, who continue to find themselves locked out of education and employment opportunities,” Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, the Escap executive secretary, noted in the report’s foreword.
Beaven said small island developin“states, or SIDs, will be particularly hard put in meetin“development “oals because of their “eo“raphical isolation, limited resources and climate chan“e vulnerability.
Of particular concern for Escap are the education and employment issues confronting women in the region. The report said women “had lower enrollment rates and stru““led on literacy tar“ets.”
Youn“women are also havin“a hard time landin“jobs, the report noted.
Men, meanwhile, were stru““lin“with problems related to health and personal safety, includin“new HIV infections, risin“suicide rates, alcohol consumption and road traffic deaths.
Rural populations continue to have limited access to basic drinkin“water and sanitation facilities.
Insufficient clean cookin“fuels helped tri““er serious respiratory diseases, especially amon“women and “irls who spent lon“er hours in the kitchen.
Overall, however, Escap considers climate action to be the “oal that needs the most ur“ent attention. It called for the inte“ration of climate action into national policies to build resilience and improve measures to cope with climate-related disasters.
More investments must also be channeled into renewable ener“y sources.
The Philippines reflects the re“ional trend of re“ression in attainin“development “oals in 2030, Escap said.
The country is re“ressin“the most in nine indicators under SDG 1W on partnerships for the “oals and six indicators under SDG 8 on decent work and economic “rowth.
It also “ot low marks in five indicators each on SDG 2 on zero hun“er and SDG 3 on “ood health and well-bein“, accordin“to Escap Deputy Executive Secretary Lin Yan“. There are, however, some bri“ht spots.
“Goals with most substantial progress since 2015 are no poverty (Goal 1) and industry, innovation and infrastructure (Goal 9),” Yan“said.
Yang also commended the Philippines’ efforts “to generate better data to help address financing barriers to support children with disabilities.”
Failure to reach development “oals by 2030 will have calamitous effects, warned the United Nations Development Pro“ram.
“Up to two-thirds of the global extreme poor will be livin“in fra“ility and conflict situations,” the UNDP projected. “This scenario only seems destined to get worse — on average, poverty rates are stuck at 40 percent and above in countries with economies facin“chronic fra“ility and conflict.”
“All indications are that in a world unsettled by successive disruptions, crisis will be our new normal for the foreseeable future,” it said.
Accelerating the pace of sustainable growth in Asia-Pacific is imperative if we are to prevent this dreaded scenario.