10 yrs of SDGs in Asia and the Pacific – A Feminist Analysis

10 years of SDGs in Asia and the Pacific - A Feminist Analysis

At the start of the decade of action for Sustainable Development, the AsiaPacific region is not on track to achieve any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Yet progress towards the SDGs is not a linear process. A basis for accelerated progress in the future is emerging. 

The data clearly show the Asia-Pacific region cannot expect to achieve the SDGs by 2030 without accelerated action. 

Despite significant progress on some goals such as quality education (Goal 4), without extra efforts, the region is likely to miss all 17 goals by 2030. In particular, the region needs to reverse trends on responsible consumption and production (Goal 12) and climate action (Goal 13) where the region is going backwards. 

For most of the indicators for which data is available, the region is likely to fall short of the targets set for 2030. For 20 per cent of those indicators, conditions in 2030 will be worse than they were in 2015 unless immediate actions are taken to reverse current trends. 

The region is making good progress on SDG targets related to economic growth. Real GDP per capita growth in the region was more than double the world average in 2017, and at the same time, many countries in the region are experiencing less income inequality. Yet, to grow more sustainably and equitably, the current economic progress of the region must be coupled with human well-being and a healthy environment. 

To achieve its social development ambitions, the region must respond to the multiple dimensions of deprivation and address the most basic rights of its people. 

Despite great success in meeting income poverty targets, the region is likely to miss all measurable SDG targets related to other forms of poverty, hunger and gender equality and reduced inequalities within and between countries by 2030. The good news is that the region has made promising progress in many target areas (such as food security, women’s role in decision-making, and access to basic sanitation services) thus building a strong basis for future acceleration. 

There is some basis for optimism that goals which focus on basic needs of the population for health and well-being, education, water and sanitation, and safe and just societies (Goals 3, 4, 6 and 16) can be achieved. 

More than half of the measurable targets on which the Asia-Pacific region is on track fall under those four goals. Yet even within them, the region lacks progress on critical targets, including health coverage and access to health facilities and personnel, learning outcomes, access to safely managed drinking water and adequate sanitation and hygiene, and human trafficking.

The region’s lack of progress on environmental sustainability is striking. 

To achieve its 2030 ambitions, the region needs to significantly accelerate its progress or reverse trends on most of the measurable environmental targets. Among the top priority targets are ones related to climate action, including energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related hazards and natural disasters, air quality and waste management in cities, and the impact of human activities on marine and coastal ecosystems. 

Progress has not been equal across the five Asia-Pacific subregions. 

The most diverse patterns of progress across Asia-Pacific subregions are observed in three goals: reduced inequalities (Goal 10), responsible consumption and production (Goal 12), and peace, justice and strong institutions (Goal 16). Even in targets where all subregions are making good progress, no subregion can expect to achieve success without sustaining or accelerating current progress into the next decade. 

The Asia-Pacific region needs to revitalize partnerships at all levels and across all stakeholders in sustainable financing, inclusive and sustainable trade, technologies, capacity building and evidence-based coherent policymaking. 

Despite some progress, the Asia-Pacific region is unlikely to achieve any of the measurable targets under Goal 17 by 2030 without extra efforts. To accelerate its overall progress, the region needs to redouble its efforts to strengthen the means of implementation. In particular, supporting lower income countries, especially LDCs, to diversify government revenue and mobilize additional resources for sustainable financing for development; strengthening existing bilateral and triangular regional and international cooperation mechanisms, and building new ones to facilitate science, technology and innovation transfer; supporting the LDCs of the region to ensure long-term and unrestricted access to the global market; and increasing investment in, and building capacity for statistical development, especially in LDCs and small island developing States. 

Lack of effective communication of statistics and insufficient demand for indicators are two sides of the same coin that undermine the evidence-base for monitoring progress on the SDGs. 

Data availability on the SDGs indicators has substantially increased over the past few years in Asia and the Pacific (from 25 per cent in 2017 to 42 per cent in 2019). Yet data are lacking on over half of the SDG indicators. Data availability is very limited on those goals with slow progress, highlighting the need for strengthening the policy-data nexus. This could be achieved by more effective communication and engagement with data users to increase demand for, and investment in, statistics. Investigating nine capacity areas needed for national statistical systems to respond to the current demand for data shows that communication and statistical literacy, together with statistical advocacy and awareness-raising, are the biggest challenges for countries in the region.