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CARACAShttps://ipsnoticias.net/2023/09/america-latina-solo-hace-parte-de-su-tarea-para-cumplir-los-ods/, Sep 15 (IPS) – The Latin American and Caribbean region is We are on the right track at the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, but are far behind in progress, halfway towards achieving the SDGs, which aim to end poverty and create a cleaner, healthier environment.
“We are exactly halfway through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development period, but we are not yet halfway there, as only a quarter of the targets have been achieved or expected to be achieved that year,” warned José, Executive Secretary of ECLAC. Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.
However, the head of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in response to a questionnaire submitted to him by the IPS, emphasized that “the percentage of targets on track is higher than the global average”, partly as a result of strengthening the institutions leading the governance of the SDGs.
The 17 SDGs include 169 targets, measured by 231 indicators, and according to ECLAC, 75 percent of the region is at risk of not being met unless decisive action is taken to make progress: 48 percent are moving in the right direction , but too slow to achieve the respective goals, and 27 percent show a tendency to backslide.
The summit was convened by UN Secretary General António Guterres from 18 to 19 September at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, under the official name High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
The stated aim is to ‘accelerate’ to achieve the SDGs in all regions, in the context of a combination of crises, in particular the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, new wars and the climate and food crises.
The SDGs focus on ending poverty, achieving zero hunger, healthcare and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, and reducing inequalities.
They also focus on sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, climate action, marine life, life in terrestrial ecosystems, peace, justice and strong institutions, and partnerships to achieve the goals.
![Drinking water is distributed from tankers in the working-class neighborhood of Petare in eastern Caracas. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is one of the objectives addressed with a wide variety of results in Latin American and Caribbean countries, and it is not certain that this goal of the 2030 Agenda will be achieved in the region. CREDIT: The city government of Caracas](https://static.globalissues.org/ips/2023/09/aa-1.jpg)
Progress is being made, but slowly
“Progress is being made in all countries in the region, but in many countries not at the necessary pace. The pace varies enormously and we are not yet where we would like to be,” said Almudena Fernández, chief economist for the region at the United Nations. Development Program (UNDP), IPS told from New York.
For example, the Peruvian economist said: “For example, there is progress in healthcare, energy and land care, but we are lagging behind in achieving more sustainable cities, and we are not on track to improve any of the poverty indicators regionally.”
Salazar-Xirinachs, from Costa Rica, said from Santiago that “the countries that have historically been at the forefront of public policy are the countries that have made the greatest progress, such as Uruguay in South America, Costa Rica in Central America or Jamaica in the Caribbean. They have implemented a greater diversity of strategies to achieve the SDGs.”
A group of experts led by American economist Jeffrey Sachs has prepared charts for the UN on how countries in different developing regions are on track to achieve the goals or still face challenges – measured in three grades, from moderate to severe – and whether they are on the right track towards improvement, stagnation or decline.
According to this study, the best progress in poverty reduction has been made in Brazil, El Salvador, Guyana, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, while the greatest setbacks have been observed in Argentina, Belize, Ecuador and Venezuela.
In the fight for zero hunger, no one stands out; Brazil, after making progress, has slipped backwards in recent years, and the best results are being achieved by the Caribbean countries.
There are positive trends in health and well-being, education and gender equality, although there is stagnation, especially in the Caribbean and Central American countries.
In the areas of water and sanitation, energy, reducing inequality, economic growth, marine management, terrestrial ecosystems, and justice and institutions, Sachs’ dashboard shows the persistence of numerous obstacles, which are presented in very different ways in different countries. addressed.
Many countries in Central America and the Caribbean are on track to meet their climate action goals, and overall the region has made progress in forging alliances with other countries and organizations to pave the way for achieving the SDGs .
![Young people in a Latin American country share a vegetable-rich meal outside. The idea of consuming products produced with environmentally sustainable techniques is gaining ground, and a private sector whose DNA is embedded in the quest for positive environmental and social impacts is flourishing. CREDIT: Pazos / Unicef](https://static.globalissues.org/ips/2023/09/aaa.jpg)
A matter of money
Even before the pandemic that broke out in 2020, the region was not moving fast enough towards the SDGs, according to Fernández; Economic growth has long been very low – and remains so this year at no more than 1.9 percent – and growth with investment is needed to reduce poverty.
In this context, Fernández stressed the need to expand tax revenues, as tax collection in the region is very low (22 percent of gross domestic product, compared to 34 percent in the advanced economies of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), “Although progress will not only be made through government spending,” she said.
Salazar-Xirinachs pointed out that “in addition to financial resources, it is very important to adapt actions to specific areas to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The measures implemented at subnational level are of great importance. Specific problems in local areas cannot always be solved with a one-size-fits-all policy.”
Fernández underlined that the 2030 Agenda “has always been conceived as an agenda for the whole of society, and that the private sector plays an essential role, especially those areas that flourish because it has a positive social and environmental impact on their DNA, and that there are young consumers who use products made in a sustainable way.”
The Salazar-Xirinachs of ECLAC highlighted sensitive sectors such as organized civil society and the private sector for their participation in sustainable development forums, follow-up actions and public-private partnerships towards achieving the SDGs.
Finally, regarding expectations for the summit, the head of ECLAC aims for a move to accelerate the 2030 Agenda in at least four areas: decent employment for all, generating more sustainable cities, resilient infrastructure that provides more jobs, and improving governance and institutions involved in the process.
ECLAC has identified the necessary ‘transformative measures’: an early energy transition; stimulating the bioeconomy, in particular sustainable agriculture and bioindustrialization; digital transformation for greater connectivity among the population; and promoting the export of modern services.
It also focuses on the healthcare society, in response to demographic trends, to achieve greater gender equality and stimulate the economy; sustainable tourism, which has great potential in the countries of the region; and integration to enable alliances to strengthen cooperation in the regional bloc.
In summary, ECLAC concludes: “It would be very important that these types of measures are identified during the summit and translated into agreements in which the countries jointly propose a roadmap for implementing actions to strengthen them.”
© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service