Recent deep cuts to overseas aid budgets by governments will have “direct, negative impacts” on the ability of the world to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN chief warned on Friday.
Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his concern over the fall in Overseas Development Aid (ODA) following a meeting of the UN Chief Executives Board, which brought together the heads of 30 entities, to discuss ways of alleviating the crises holding back economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and boost the implementation of the SDGs.
He noted that the current “moment in history” had thrown up “cascading challenges” including a climate emergency, uneven economic recovery, and the triple crisis of food, energy and debt, all exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He, however, acknowledged that a number of countries have met, “and in some cases” gone beyond, the threshold.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests.
