SDG Conference Panel 1: Building a New Momentum Towards the 2030 Deadline for the SDGS
The long-term social, economic, and well-being challenges posed by COVID-19 Pandemic are still ongoing. Thereupon this unprecedented global crisis, 2022-2023 has been a year of deterioration on various grounds. Positive peace, freedom of expression, fundamental civil and political rights have been declining, while transnational crimes, the influx of forcibly displaced people, and authoritarian regimes across the globe have been on the rise. Day-to-day implications of the climate crisis are now in action in many Global South countries enforcing people to leave their homeland due to food insecurity, violence and political instability responding to this utmost urgent environmental call.
The largest setbacks were recorded in political terror scales and internal conflicts. War in Ukraine, Taliban`s take-over in Afghanistan, and the internal conflict that erupted in Sudan have created inevitable regressions in many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Besides these armed conflicts and internal political instabilities, democratic States fell behind in the progress track as well. Given this critical momentum, Secretary-General calls for an urgent renewal of commitments meaningfully involving all development stakeholders to break through for a better future for all and deliver the promise of Global Goals.
In order to work on effective and transformative action-oriented policy making for the second half of the implementation timeline, our global community must acknowledge the following critical assessment: “Only about %12 [of the SDGs] are on track; close to half, though showing progress, are moderately or severely off track and some %30 have either seen no movement or regressed below the 2015 baseline”. Another striking unfolded truth is the absence of accountable, up-to-date, gender-disaggregated data. The recently released SDG Progress Report indicates that about 8% of latest available data are from 2023, 21% from 2022, and 54% are from 2020 – 2021. Goal 16: Peaceful, just, strong institutions, Goal 13: Climate change and Goal 5: Gender equality are among the targets with the least current available data. Academic institutions` innovative research methodologies to close the data gap is crucial to scale up the delivery of peace and development promises.
Panel Session 1 – Building a New Momentum Towards the 2030 Deadline for the SDGs will discuss:
- The latest progress of the Sustainable Development Goals halfway through the 2030 deadline: Emerging challenges
- Strengthening institutions and political commitment in timely achievement of the SDGs: local, and regional governments aligning with the private sector
- Sounding an alarm for urgent action on increasing internationally comparable, gender-disaggregated, available data collection
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals as a pivotal actor to break through a sustainable, peaceful future
- The New Agenda for Peace: A Pack for a transitioning era of geopolitical complexities