The United Nations warned on Friday that only 17 percent of its 169 goals to improve the lives of more than 7 billion people worldwide are on track to be met by the 2030 deadline.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the annual report, saying: “It shows that the world is getting a failing grade.”
In 2015, world leaders adopted 17 broad development goals ranging from eradicating global poverty to achieving gender equality, and set 169 specific targets to be achieved by the end of the decade.
According to the report, nearly half of the goals show little or moderate progress, and more than a third are stalled or regressing – with only 17% on track to achieve them.
“The bottom line is simple,” Guterres said. “Our failure to secure peace, address climate change and boost international finance undermines development.”
The report also noted the continuing effects of Covid-19 Pandemic He said that 23 million more people fell into extreme poverty, and more than 100 million more people suffered from hunger in 2022 compared to 2019.
“In a world of unprecedented wealth, knowledge and technology, depriving so many people of basic needs is outrageous and unacceptable,” Guterres said.
On the downside, the UN said that for the first time this century, GDP per capita growth in half of the world’s most vulnerable countries was slower than that in advanced economies, threatening to improve equality. In 2022, the UN said, nearly 60% of countries will face moderate to abnormally high food prices.
Goal Quality education But that doesn’t mean there’s any progress. Only 58% of students worldwide achieve minimum proficiency in reading by the end of primary school, and “recent assessments reveal significant declines in math and reading scores in many countries,” the report says.
On gender equality, the report said the world is still lagging behind: one in five girls is married before the age of 18, violence against women persists, and far too many women do not have the right to decide about their sexual and reproductive health – at current rates it will take 176 years for women to reach parity with men in management positions.
The report also carries “some glimmers of hope,” Guterres said.
Mobile broadband is now available to 95% of the world’s population, up from 78% in 2015. The report said global electricity generation capacity from renewable energy sources has expanded at an unprecedented 8.1% per year over the past five years.
Increased access to treatment has averted 20.8 million AIDS-related deaths in the past three decades. Malaria vaccines Implementing this strategy could save millions of lives. Girls in most regions are now on par with boys in education. And many women are shattering glass ceilings.
“But the speed and scale of change needed for sustainable development remains too slow,” Guterres added.
He called for action to end the wars. Gaza To Ukraine, Sudan and beyond, “shifting from spending on destruction and war to investing in people and peace.”
The Secretary-General also called for greater action to combat climate change and “green and digital transformations.”
According to the report, there is an annual gap of $4 trillion in investments needed to help developing countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Guterres called for intensified efforts to provide resources as well as reduce debt pressures and debt service costs, expand access to emergency financing for countries at risk of cash flow crisis, and double the lending capacity of the World Bank and other development banks.
“We must not abandon our promises to end poverty, protect the planet and leave no one behind,” the Secretary-General said.
—Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press
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