Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels in Asia and the Pacific[1]
As we are gearing up for yet another follow-up and review in the Asia Pacific region, at the mid-point of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development implementation, it is disheartening and dispiriting that we are only getting further out of reach to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The multi-layered crises of COVID-19, climate change, geopolitical conflicts, inflation and the high cost of living are only exacerbating the reversal and slow and stagnant progress made in the region.
The Tenth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, will be held from the 27th– 30th March, 2023 under the theme “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels in Asia and the Pacific”. Key SDGs under review in 2023 include Goal 6 on Water and Sanitation; Goal 7 on Clean and Affordable Energy; Goal 9 on Infrastructure, Innovation, and Industry; Goal 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Goal 17 on Strengthening Means of Implementation and Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. The intergovernmental APFSD will be preceded by the APFSD Youth Forum (18th-20th March) and the People’s Forum (24th -26th March).
Are we reaching the goal post in 2022 in regards to the SDGs[2] under review for 2023?
SDG6 on Water and Sanitation: The Asia-Pacific region is currently not on track in regards to where it should be in 2022, to achieve any of the SDG6 on water and sanitation targets by 2030. The progress towards SDG6 on water and sanitation is dismal, with 1.9 billion persons continuing to lack access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services, and 1.3 billion people not having basic handwashing facilities. 224 million people in the region are without access to any type of toilet leading to open defecation causing public health implications. Data from UNESCAP shows that in 2020 about half of the rural population had access to safely managed drinking water services (52 per cent) and safely managed sanitation services (48 per cent).[3][4]
Progress needs to be accelerated multi-fold times to ensure safely managed water and sanitation in the region. Women and girls in all their diversity are the most affected by lack of safely managed water and sanitation facilities given their unique needs including that of sexual and reproductive health. Data in the region points to women bearing four times more of the burden of unpaid care and domestic work and this includes travelling long distances for water collection and being exposed to violence and sexual assault in the process. In addition, women and girls in all their diversity residing in hard to reach rural areas, in urban slums, and refugee settlements are also affected by lack of WASH facilities.
SDG7 on Safe and Affordable Energy: The Asia-Pacific region has seen its greatest progress made towards Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy among others, however the pace is still too slow to reach the 2030 Goal.
Despite increased support in terms of aid (ODA), the levels vary and have been on a decline in the recent years.[5] Though progress has been made on electrification, approximately 126 million people remain without access to electricity, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries and mostly in rural areas.[6]
The United Nations General Assembly resolution in October 2021 recognised access to a healthy and sustainable environment as a universal right. This is a landmark resolution that needs immediate implementation.
It is crucial to ensure household energy services are clean and efficient, support public health and mitigate environmental impacts. However, progress towards clean cooking remains slow. Most women and girls in all their diversity, in rural areas and hard to reach areas, and who come from poorer households, continue to bear the burden of unpaid domestic care work and burden of cooking, cleaning, etc. Harmful gender norms relegate the unpaid care burden mostly to women and girls in the households. Women and girls face negative effects of inefficient energy sources used, such as wood, charcoal, dung, etc. in open fires, which puts them at risk of health hazards, including compromised air quality at the household level. Approximately 1.3 billion people (29 per cent) continue to rely on inefficient and polluting fuels and cookstoves. There are widespread inequalities in the rate of renewal energy utilisation among low, middle and high-income countries with the energy mix in Asia remaining mainly fossil fuel based.[7]
SDG9 on Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Overall the progress towards SDG 9 is generally insufficient in the Asia and the Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region is currently not on track in regards to where the region should be in 2022, to achieve SDG 9 targets on Industry, Innovation and infrastructure, except targets 9a on official flows for infrastructure to LDCs and 9c on Population covered by a mobile network.
The official flows for infrastructure among LDCs (9a), though showing progress, lacks information on how sustainable or resilient the infrastructure is in supporting sustainable development. Inclusive resilient infrastructure is crucial so that women and girls in all their diversity, marginalised groups such as informal workers, persons with disabilities, and older persons utilise these infrastructures equitably. Women, young people, and marginalised groups should also be part of infrastructure workforce.
On access to internet connectivity (9c), while this has grown rapidly in all countries with many countries already having over 90 per cent of the population covered by a 4G mobile network, these metrics do not consider universality, technology and affordability on internet connectivity, making progress still a far goalpost. The percentage of the male population using the internet in Asia and the Pacific is 68 per cent, compared to 61 per cent of the female population in the region, excluding the Commonwealth of Independent States.[8]
Inclusive digital transformation, would call for Governments in the region to address the gap of those persons not connected digitally. With 2.7 billion people remaining offline across the globe, many of them living in developing and least developed countries, digital connectivity remains unachieved and inequitable. When it comes to gender norms, the power structures, gender inequalities are also reflected in digital spaces. Hate speech, disinformation, conservative perspectives invade the digital spaces, making these spaces difficult, unfriendly for women, and girls in all their diversity, including LGBTIQ, persons to navigated and express themselves. These aspects of human rights in digital spaces need to be addressed.[9]
SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities: Overall the progress towards SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities sees both forward progress and regression in the Asia Pacific region. Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable is the overall goal of SDG11. Cities across the Asia Pacific region are experiencing rapid growth, and the pandemic has brought to the fore significant challenges faced by persons living in cities, including lack of housing, lack of education, lack of basic water and sanitation facilities, lack of access to health, including SRH services, lack of sustainable urban planning, basic social protection measures that can build resilience to economic or climate related disruptions. We are witnessing increasing exclusion and inequality, and lack of safe spaces for women and girls. The pandemic has exacerbated the challenges of unpaid and paid care work in the region disproportionately shouldered by women. It has also reversed the progress made on other SDGs including on health and education.
The region houses 60 per cent of global informal settlements. To tackle gender inequality, gender responsive and inclusive planning processes and basic gender-responsive infrastructure and service provision remains crucial. The lack of safely managed water and sanitation facilities puts a disproportionate burden on women, girls, young people, persons with disabilities, older persons, and marginalised and excluded groups in cities and communities. Interlinkages across SDGs need to be examined for intersectoral collaboration and holistic approaches to SDG implementation.
SDG17 – Strengthen the Means of Implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development: Progress towards SDG 17 has been slow in the Asia Pacific region and within some targets, the progress is reversed . Inclusive partnerships at local national, regional and global levels are crucial in accelerating the progress towards Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development across financing, technology, capacity strengthening, trade and systemic issues. Resource mobilisation through domestic and ODA channels is insufficient to address, reversal, stagnant, and slow progress across SDGs. More financial resources need to be pumped in.
Despite an increase in the Official Development Assistance (ODA), however, the share of grants for LDCs declined from 90 per cent in 2015 to 75 per cent in 2019. In public finance, the ability to mobilise tax revenues is making poor progress, especially in regards to corporate taxation. This has implications on public spending by governments towards social protection, health, and education, as well as recovery form COVID-19. Debt burdens are not reduced in the region adding additional burden to sparse country domestic financial resources.
On another note, the Asia Pacific remains the highest remittance recipient region in the world, both in absolute and relative terms.
Lack of data across SDG indicators continues to remain a huge barrier. Of the 231 official SDG indicators, cross comparable data is available for only half. The call for disaggregated data across class, ethnicity, race, caste, age, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation, remains a far-cry in the region. Data ensures we measure progress, gaps and challenges; however, such data is not available across all SDG indicators, and it is most disappointing that many of the indicators within Goal 5 on gender equality continue to be unavailable.
In conclusion, at the mid-point of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, we are still far from making progress in the region, and there is an enormous need to ensure the planning, implementation and follow up of the SDGs in the region is embedded in human rights approaches, and gender equality and equity principles. Women, girls, young people, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI persons, older persons and marginalised and socially excluded groups continue to be disadvantaged and left behind and concerted actions by governments are necessary to accelerate actions towards SDGs by taking affirmative actions towards excluded and marginalised groups.
The decisions made at the APFSD 2023, and the political commitment shown by the Member States in the region will chart the way forward on progress towards the Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development leaving no one behind on the region. The civil society looks forward to a bold and progressive outcome, that is also discussed in the UNESCAP background papers for APFSD 2023.
- Governments in the region need to step up actions to ensure safely managed water and sanitation facilities are provided to all as public goods with dedicated public funds allocated for this purpose. Rights-based approaches and gender responsive principles are crucial in the design, implementation and monitoring of the accelerated work to advance access to safely managed water and sanitation facilities for all in the region.
- Governments in the region need to step up actions towards implementation of the Global Roadmap for Accelerated Goal 7 Action in Support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. These actions should be human-rights based, with gender responsive and equity principles, across the energy value-chain, thus protecting rights of women, girls, indigenous communities and marginalised groups. Towards this, technology, innovation, financing and partnerships are crucial and those affected by the energy crises should be part of decision-making processes. We should recognise and act to address unpaid care work burden, both direct and indirect faced by women and girls.
- Governments in the region must step up actions towards ensuring human rights approaches, gender responsive and equity principles are embedded in the implementation of SDG9. Governments must work towards a human-centered and resilient digital future that is accessible and affordable to all. Intelligent technologies and smart products risk perpetuating or even amplifying inequalities if they are not designed in a way that considers the different realities of women and men and address harmful gender biases. Provide safety net provisions that will support employability, especially for female, youth, low-skilled and informal workers.
- Governments in the region need to step up action to respond to challenges in the Asia Pacific cities with human rights approaches and gender equality and equity principles with focus on women, girls, young people, persons with disabilities, older persons, and marginalised and socially excluded groups. This should include governance, collaboration and implementation approaches and mechanisms. Addressing the digital divide remains key to address inequalities and inequalities. Ensure better and more disaggregated data is also provided to guide and monitor policies to improve SDG implementation
- Governments in the region need to step up actions to respond to SDG17 on the means of implementation and global partnerships in a human rights-based approach with gender equality and equity principles at the forefront advancing the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of individuals. Such approaches need to inform domestic resource mobilisation and ODA allocation for equal and equitable allocation of financial resources across sustainable development dimensions.
Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), comprehensive sexuality education and SRH services for all, go a long way, and underpins the sustainable development in the region is achieved. At the foundational micro level, the transformation will only be possible when individuals are able to claim their agency and voice, their SRHR across the social, economic and environmental dimensions, of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Until then we will not realise the transformative ambition of leaving no one behind and the clarion call for an equal, just and equitable world.
by Sai Racherla
Deputy Executive Director, ARROW
[1] The present State of the Region brief heavily draws on the SDG profiles of the region in 2023, developed by UNESCAP
[2] Key SDGs under review this year include Goal 6 on Water and Sanitation; Goal 7 on Clean and Affordable Energy; Goal 9 on Infrastructure, Innovation, and Industry; Goal 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Goal 17 on Strengthening Means of Implementation and Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
[3] Safely managed drinking water services refers to improved water source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination while safely managed sanitation service that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed in situ or removed and treated offsite.
[4]Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/SDG%206%20Goal%20Profile_7Feb23.pdf
[5] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/SDG7.pdf
[6] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/SDG7.pdf
[7] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/SDG7.pdf
[8] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/SDG%209_2MAR23.pdf
[9] Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/SDG%209_2MAR23.pdf
