FIVE years ago, world leaders united to attack the global challenge of poverty and inequality. Five years later, some of them closed down their borders and truncated actions to attain what they’ve agreed to achieve by 2030: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
And this is because of a virus that’s way smaller than the eye of a needle. This, even for Jeffrey Sachs, isn’t easy.
Sachs, president of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), admitted in a recent webinar that even SDG efforts at the UN have been suspended due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“We’re in a very early stage in this. So right now all attention is in this emergency and fighting the epidemic. We’re [going to] have to consider the implications for the longer term shortly,” Sachs said.
“But frankly, right now, this has overwhelmed all processes, I would say. So all normal processes at the UN or normal SDG processes really are, in a way, suspended right now to get through this absolute emergency,” he added.
In 2013, when Sachs told a reporter that eradicating poverty is easy, he didn’t foresee—neither did the leaders who agreed on the SDG document in October 2015—that addressing the pandemic caused by a droplet, as small as 30 microns, would make that difficult.
SDG status
A RECENT report of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) showed the pre-pandemic region has been struggling to meet the SDGs.
Even before Covid-19, as much as 80 percent of the measurable SDG targets required efforts to accelerate progress. This includes 17 targets where the region is regressing.
Further, the SDG effort is plagued by insufficient data. Unescap said about 40 percent of the targets that are data-challenged pertain to goals related to the environment.
The 17 SDGs and 169 targets seek “to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls,” the UN General Assembly averred in their 70th session called Resolution 70/1. “They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.”
“The Goals and targets will stimulate action over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet,” the UN GA said in 2015.
Some of the targets were expected to expire this year while majority should have been met in the next decade.
However, the Unescap said 20 percent “of indicators is off-track [and] conditions in 2030 will be worse than they were in 2015 unless immediate actions are taken to reverse current trends.”
“It is clear that some trends in every development pillar in the Asia-Pacific region must be reversed,” the Unescap added.
Targets included
AS for the Philippines, based on a presentation of the 2nd Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the SDGs to the UN last year, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said efforts to meet the SDGs were included in the country’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) and even complement the country’s long-term aspiration enshrined in “AmBisyon Natin” (Our Ambition) 2040.
In the latest VNR, the Philippines outlined the country’s progress on meeting the following goals: SDG 4, on quality education; SDG 8, on decent work and economic growth; SDG 10, on reducing inequalities; SDG 13, on climate action; SDG 16, on peace, justice and strong institutions; and, SDG 17, on partnerships for attainting these goals.
In terms of SDG 4 and using 2017 data, target for primary enrollment rate is at 94.2 percent; primary completion rate is at 92.4 percent; secondary net enrollment rate is at 76 percent; and, secondary completion rate is at 84.3 percent. All these targets should reach 100 percent by 2030.
Academic achievements
BASED on a March 2020 report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that used 2018 data, some of these rates improved; others did not.
For one, the primary enrollment rate slowed to 94.1 percent, the 2018 data suggests. Still, primary completion rate improved to 97.2 percent. Junior high school enrollment rate improved to 81.4 percent while Senior high-school remained low but still improved to 51.2 percent. secondary completion rate for junior high school was at 88.4 percent.
Challenges remain in achieving SDG 4 and these include gaps in the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum and low quality in tertiary or Higher Education Institutions (HEI) given the low performance in licensure exams.
“Quality measures are vital, especially with the huge government investments in making tertiary education accessible. Pedagogical methods also need to be improved in tune with technological advancements,” the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said.
Yawning facts
IN terms of SDG 8 using 2018 data, the country’s annual growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased to 4.6 percent while unemployment rate averaged 5.3 percent in 2018.
However, in terms of 2019 data, the country has regressed in this goal with annual growth rate of real GDP per capita at only 4.3 percent and annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person at only 2.7 percent in 2019. The unemployment rate, nonetheless, has improved to 5.1 percent in 2019.
However, Neda said the government aims to address its challenges through the Green Jobs Act, which promotes decent jobs in environment-related industries; inclusive business models that involve marginalized sectors; expanded maternity leaves that help women in the workplace; and, social protection such as the conditional cash transfer program.
Sustained growth
IN terms of SDG 10, the Neda reported that targets such as the growth rate of household income per capita between the first semester of 2015 and in the same period for 2018 for the bottom 40 percent was at 28.3 percent while the rate for the total population was at 21.2 percent.
Further, the population of people living below 50 percent of median income averaged 19 percent in the first semester 2018, not far from the 20-percent baseline in 2015.
However, using full-year data in 2018, PSA said household income per capita among the bottom 40 percent of the population averaged 10.4 percent and the rate for the whole population was at 6.5 percent. The large disparity, PSA said, was based on the adoption of the 2015 Census of Population and Housing results for the weights of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey.
“Income inequality among Filipinos has declined due to sustained robust economic growth and the implementation of policies and programs that aim to empower marginalized individuals and communities,” the report stated. “However, greater effort must be exerted in ensuring social inclusion given the persistence of spatial and sectoral disparities.”
Timely information
MEANWHILE, the Neda said efforts to meet SDG 13 include reducing the number of persons directly affected by disasters. As of 2018, the country was able to bring this down to 682,315 individuals.
However, the number of deaths attributed to disasters increased to 351 people per 100,000-population in 2018 from just 116 in 2016; those missing increased to 38 in 2018 from 29 in 2016.
Based on PSA data, which contained revised data made on the baseline data due to the updates and further validation of the reported data, the numbers are starkly different.
PSA said the number of persons directly affected by disasters per 100,000-population declined to 5,218 in 2018 from 8,853 in 2016.
The revisions also affected the number of deaths attributed to disasters per 100,000-population, and missing persons per 100,000-population, which have dropped to below 1 in 2018.
“Critical knowledge and data gaps persist,” Neda said. “Moreover, appropriate indicators to measure adaptive capacity and resilience are still lacking. More support is needed to generate accurate, timely, and local-specific climate risk information, and raise greater awareness and understanding on the use of such information especially by the LGUs and communities.”
Reporting, monitoring
FOR SDG 16, the Neda said the goal includes the target of reducing the proportion of persons who had at least one contact with a public official and who paid or was asked to pay bribe to a public official. Based on their monitoring, this has declined to 1.9 percent in 2017 from 2.5 percent in 2016.
The goal also includes efforts to curb violence, as the number of homicide and murder cases went down to 9,458 in 2018 from 12,992 in 2015. Neda also said the average number of index crimes decreased to 139,459 in 2016 from 201,010 in 2015. To note, it was in 2016 when President Duterte announced his war on the illegal drug trade.
Based on the latest monitoring of PSA, the number of victims of intentional homicide by sex and age, as well as the number of cases was even lower at 6,866 in 2018. The monthly average index crime rate was at 6.2 percent in 2018 from 11.3 percent in 2016.
The Neda explained that this is part of the challenges of the government since crime statistics are obtained from police blotter reports that may be “incomplete and inadequate in capturing actual incidents.”
“The victims’ level of trust and confidence in the government and their empowerment to report the incidence is a significant factor on the quality of reported data,” Neda said.
“Priority must be given to establishing a more reliable monitoring and reporting mechanism for these statistics such as the Crime Victimization Survey that can capture data on actual crime incidents,” it added.
Optimal use
THE VNR report stated that the Philippines improved in terms of meeting SDG 17.
One of the indicators, total government revenue as proportion of GDP, averaged 16.4 percent in 2018, better than the 15.8-percent baseline in 2015. Likewise, the share of domestic budget funded by domestic taxes was at 69.8 percent from 69.7 percent in 2015.
Foreign direct investment as proportion of total domestic budget was also higher at 13.7 percent in 2018 from 9.9 percent in 2015. The same data may also be found in the PSA database for this goal.
However, when it comes to other indicators such as the volume of remittances as a proportion of GDP, the Neda estimates this remained at 9.7 percent in 2018 as it was in 2015. But based on 2019 estimates, PSA estimated this declined to 9.3 percent.
The latest PSA data also showed that debt service as proportion of export of goods and receipts from services and primary income reached 8.4 percent in 2019, higher than the 6.3 percent in 2018 included in the VNR by Neda.
“Achieving the SDGs requires effective and cohesive partnerships among various actors, such as national and local governments, the development community, civil society, the private sector and other organizations to make optimal use of available resources,” Neda said.
“Collaborative efforts to develop the data infrastructure [Sections V and VI] and supporting mechanisms to implement SDG-supportive initiatives at the international, national, and local levels are also necessary,” it added.
New recourse
GIVEN the existing challenges, PSA’s Wilma A. Guillen and Bernadette B. Balamban said the stakes could be even higher after 2020.
In an e-mail to BusinessMirror, Guillen and Balamban said the Luzon-wide lockdown and its effects would likely affect the results of the next SDG monitoring, slated in the fourth quarter of this year.
Guillen and Balamban said if the data paint a grim picture for meeting the SDGs, there is no other recourse but to reconsider the targets for the next 10 years.
Efforts to meet the SDGs would likely require “catch-up plans and increased budget support,” said Guillen, PSA Assistant National Statistician for Social Sector Statistics Service, and Balamban, Poverty and Human Development Statistics Division Chief Statistical Specialist.
Indeed, the impact of the unique public health emergency due to Covid-19 would be felt across several SDGs, UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Titon Mitra said.
Mitra admits that Covid-19 is a real setback to efforts that seek to meet the SDGs. If the world fails to meet the SDGs, many people will be worse off than they are now.
“The implications are similar globally, but will be felt to varying degrees dependent on the nature of the economy and government responses,” he said in an e-mail to the BusinessMirror.
Getting worse
SOME SDGs, Mitra said, may be affected more immediately than others. He listed the following: SDG 1, on eradicating poverty; SDG 3, on good health and well-being; SDG 8, on decent work and economic growth; and, SDG 17, on partnerships.
In terms of SDG 1, Mitra said with Covid-19, the conditions of vulnerable people worsened given the work displacement and limitations on mobility. It will be more difficult for those with already unstable jobs; single parents, persons with disability; and, the elderly.
With limited or no incomes, Mitra said the already vulnerable population of the country would be “pushed to the edge of, and over, the poverty line.” If this occurs, it will become more challenging to meet SDG 1 by 2030.
In terms of SDG 3, Mitra said Covid-19 has shocked health-care systems worldwide.
It has made universal and inclusive access to health care even more important, he said adding that, sadly, not all countries are equipped with such a system.
Accelerate progress
“THE Covid-19 pandemic is having a wide range of unprecedented effects on all aspects of our lives, driving home the links between seemingly disconnected elements of development and the importance of a holistic approach as reflected in the SDGs,” Smita Nakhooda, Senior Results Management Specialist of the Strategy, Policy, and Partnership Department (SPD) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), told the BusinessMirror.
“UN analysis of available data on progress towards SDG targets suggested that the region was not on track to achieve any of the 17 SDGs by 2030, and substantial efforts to re-orient development,” Nakhooda said. “The full effects of the pandemic on the SDGs remain to be seen, but the hope would be that recovery efforts emphasize opportunities to accelerate progress towards the goals.”
ADB Principal Knowledge Sharing and Services Specialist Susann Roth and Health Specialist Najibullah Habib said governments should take the time to go back to basics in terms of healthcare and people’s well-being in light of Covid-19.
They wrote in a recent Asian Development Blog that this means investing in health systems and resilient supply chains to ensure long-term benefits for all.
Roth and Habib said governments must focus on efforts to provide high-quality health care such as health promotion and disease prevention, as well as decentralized and cost-effective primary health care services.
In order to do this, 23 economists from the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (Acerd) and the Ateneo de Manila University Economics Department said universal healthcare funds should be front-loaded. This is estimated to cost P67 billion and will be drawn from the 2020 national budget.
New alliances
MEANWHILE, Mitra said in terms of SDG 8, the danger is the loss of jobs. Globally, Covid-19 could render 25 million jobless, including some 1.8 million in the Philippines, as estimated by Neda.
With job losses in the formal and informal sectors, Mitra said this could make social safety nets inaccessible for millions of people. The inability to access safety nets such as unemployment benefits would force many to consider working even in hazardous conditions.
“Fearing the loss of earnings or jobs, an unintended consequence is that people may be obliged, where they can, to come to work despite the risks of contracting and spreading the infection,” Mitra said. “We then have an even larger public health crisis on our hands.”
For SDG 17, Mitra said the closure of borders is a threat. However, UNDP has still observed institutions working together and working around the crisis.
He said funds are being raised to mobilize public, corporate and individual resources to accelerate Covid-19 response. Coalitions are also being formed, Mitra said. This shows the challenges posed by Covid-19 can be addressed, he added.
Daunting task
THE UN said in “Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity: Responding to the socioeconomic impacts of Covid-19,” the hard truth is that the world could have prepared better for the crisis.
The UN said if only countries were investing in the SDGs and its precursor, the Millennium Development Goals, the world would have been more prepared for a pandemic like Covid-19.
Years of neglect and underinvestment have compromised health systems worldwide, the UN said, adding that this has contributed to the ill-preparedness of countries when the pandemic finally struck.
“Instead, most countries have underinvested in health systems; facilities are insufficient for the level of the unexpected demand and rely heavily on imports,” the UN said. “Most countries are characterized by weak, fragmented health systems that do not ensure the universal access and capacity needed to face the Covid-19 health crisis.”
This is one reason why getting back on track to meet the SDGs is no simple task.
Struggles ahead
SACHS said efforts to meet the SDGs have been a struggle for many countries around the world.
However, he said, addressing the Covid-19, if done right, would also lead to the achievement of the SDGs. Sachs said ensuring that no one is left behind in the fight against Covid-19 strikes at the heart of the SDGs.
“The SDGs were chronically underfinanced, underperforming, and under-attended to even before Covid-19. It’s a struggle. I won’t say there is a silver lining to a global disaster, there isn’t one. But, it will put attention on the critical dimensions of life, death, extreme poverty, and vulnerability which are the very essence of the sustainable development goals that will surely force us to attend to these life and death issues,” Sachs said.
Mitra added that despite the challenges that the SDGs are faced with and given the crisis at hand, the world cannot abandon the goals. For one, the SDGs can bring much-needed vitality to the global economy, he said.
In the Philippines alone, UNDP estimates that achieving the SDGs in the country could open $82 billion worth of market opportunities in food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health. The SDGs can create as many as 4.4 million new jobs by 2030.
Allocating funds
MITRA emphasized that meeting the SDGs is not just about having enough money to finance the efforts. Meeting the goals would require effective implementation of projects, he added.
Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the Duterte administration has already allocated funds for various projects.
Mitra said these projects should be well-targeted so that efforts to respond to Covid-19 could also address inequalities, poverty, health issues, and other pertinent development challenges that the SDGs aim to address.
Mitra added that building back economies after the crisis means re-thinking opportunities and finding better and smarter ways to address problems and these will help meet the SDGs.
Some of these include low-carbon energy and production, greener supply chains, low emission transport, and decent jobs with appropriate entitlements and working conditions.
“This is not necessarily about more funds for the SDGs but better targeting and allocations-quality over quantum,” Mitra said. “When picking the right mix of policies and investments, a basic rule should be: first, do no harm. And then, do a lot of good.”
This is important to remember considering that while the SDGs remain important, there is no doubt that responding to Covid-19 will be prioritized by the government, acerd Director Alvin P. Ang told the BusinessMirror.
“The environmental related are mostly addressed so by the time Covid-19 is managed, SDGs may need to be adjusted,” Ang said. “Those pertaining to labor, poverty and vulnerability may have to be highlighted. The Philippines will most likely be doing the same.”
Fighting Covid-19
EFFORTS to move forward in meeting the SDGs mean turning to science and technology.
The UN said the science and technology sector is crucial in not only fighting Covid-19 but in “mitigating its potential impacts on achievement of the SDGs.”
Senior Fellow Alan Gelb and Policy Fellow Anit Mukherjee of the US-based research institution the Center for Global Development said digital technologies have been used for government-to-people (G2P) transfers. But to address the Covid-19 challenge and meet the SDGs, using digital technologies for G2P needs to be expanded.
They added that data obtained through technology can be harnessed to improve service delivery needed for both Covid-19 and the SDGs. Gelb and Mukherjee said this also means “increasing state capacity in an increasingly interconnected, digital world.”
The world and the Philippines’ efforts toward achieving the SDGs should not interfere with its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement that the SDGs or the Global Agenda 2030 should instead be used as the roadmap for the Covid-19 response.
Economic recovery
GUTERRES said Covid-19 should usher in the birth of a new economy—one that is inclusive and sustainable. As such, this new economy will be more resilient to future pandemics, climate change and other future global challenges.
“While in the short term, there is locking down to our most local circumstances of our own flats, and our own streets, and in our own neighborhoods. We really are all in this together,” Sachs said.
“We will not be safe if the epidemic is not controlled everywhere. We will not have an economic recovery if parts of the world are in chaos and so even though it feels very immediate and very local, we absolutely need to be global,” he added.
Indeed, being alone together in this crisis should not be a hindrance to do good, not only to prevent the spread of a highly infectious disease, but also to get back on track in pursuing the SDGs.
Maybe this temporary setback will also allow people to gain some perspective on how the future could look like where no one is left behind.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila