4. Global Goals: SDGs and its predecessor

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 interconnected goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, with a deadline of 2030, to transform our world towards a sustainable future. The SDGs aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. They build on the MDGs, which were adopted in 2000 and had eight goals focused on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, promoting gender equality and empowering women, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.

Compared to its predecessors the MDGs, the SDGs are more comprehensive, inclusive, and universal, and they involve all countries, not just the developing ones. The SDGs address a wider range of issues, such as reducing inequality, promoting sustainable consumption and production, achieving peaceful and inclusive societies, and ensuring access to justice for all. The SDGs also emphasize the need to address the root causes of problems, such as poverty, by tackling the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development in an integrated manner. The SDGs also recognize the interdependence between the goals and the need for collective action at the local, national, and global levels to achieve them.

The positive impacts of the SDGs on people’s lives are manifold. By 2030, the SDGs aim to end poverty in all its forms, including extreme poverty, and ensure that all people have access to basic needs such as food, water, health care, education, and decent work. They also aim to reduce inequality within and among countries, empower women and girls, promote peaceful and inclusive societies, and protect the environment for present and future generations. The SDGs recognize the importance of human rights, social justice, and participatory democracy in achieving sustainable development.

The significance of the SDGs is immense, given the global challenges we face today. Poverty remains a pervasive problem, with more than 700 million people living in extreme poverty and many more struggling to make ends meet. Hunger, malnutrition, and lack of access to clean water and sanitation continue to affect millions of people, especially in developing countries.

Health care is often inadequate or inaccessible, with millions of people dying from preventable diseases or suffering from chronic illnesses. Education is a key driver of human development, but millions of children still lack access to quality education, especially girls and marginalized groups. Gender inequality persists in many forms, including unequal pay, discrimination, violence, and limited opportunities for women and girls. Inequality, both within and among countries, is a major obstacle to sustainable development, as it undermines social cohesion, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. Economic growth, while necessary for development, needs to be inclusive, equitable, and sustainable, to avoid perpetuating poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. Climate change is a global challenge that threatens to undermine development gains and exacerbate poverty, hunger, and inequality, especially in the most vulnerable regions of the world. Finally, global partnership is essential for achieving the SDGs, as no country can achieve sustainable development alone, and the challenges we face are global in nature and require global solutions.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were a set of eight goals established by the United Nations in 2000. The eight goals of the MDGs were: (1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, (2) Achieve universal primary education (3) Promote gender equality and empower women (4) Reduce child mortality (5) Improve maternal health (6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (7) Ensure environmental sustainability (8) Develop a global partnership for development The MDGs were significant in that they provided a clear and concise framework for global development efforts and focused on measurable targets and indicators to track progress. While the MDGs were not without criticism, they did help to mobilize resources and galvanize global action towards achieving development goals.

Overall, while the SDGs and MDGs are not perfect, they provided a useful framework for global development efforts and helped to galvanize action towards achieving development goals. The lessons learned from the MDGs have informed the development of the Sustainable Development Goals, which provide a more comprehensive and inclusive framework for sustainable development.

However, the SDGs are not without critics. Some argue that the SDGs are too ambitious, unrealistic, and costly, and that they lack a clear implementation plan, adequate funding,

Some critics argue that the MDGs were too narrow in focus, and did not address broader issues of inequality, human rights, and governance. Others argue that the MDGs were too reliant on top-down approaches and did not sufficiently involve local communities and stakeholders in the development process.

Critics also argue that the MDGs did not go far enough in addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality, such as global economic structures and unequal distribution of resources. Finally, some have criticized the MDGs for being overly ambitious and setting unrealistic targets, which led to disappointment and frustration when the goals were not fully achieved by 2015.

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most influential leaders of the Indian independence movement, was a firm advocate for social justice and equality. He had strong opinions on poverty, health, hunger, education, gender equality, inequality, economic growth, climate change, and global partnership.

On poverty, He said, “Poverty is the worst form of violence.”. Gandhi believed that it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that basic needs were met for all citizens. He believed that poverty was not just about the lack of material wealth, but also about the lack of dignity and freedom. According to him, everyone had a right to good health and access to food.

On education, Gandhi advocated that education was the key to social and economic progress. He said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” He believed that education should be accessible to all, regardless of their social or economic background.

Gandhi had a strong belief in the empowerment of women and their equal rights. He said, “To call women the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman.” He believed in the importance of education for women and their active participation in social and political life.

On inequality, Gandhi believed that social and economic inequalities were a result of an unjust and unequal distribution of resources. He said, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” He advocated for the redistribution of wealth and resources to ensure a more equitable society.

On economic growth, Gandhi believed that economic growth should not come at the expense of social and environmental well-being. He said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” He advocated for sustainable development that promotes social justice, environmental sustainability, and economic growth.

Gandhi believed in the importance of international cooperation and collaboration to address global challenges. He said, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” He believed in the importance of solidarity and cooperation to create a more just and peaceful world.

Overall, Mahatma Gandhi’s beliefs on poverty, health, hunger, education, gender equality, inequality, economic growth, climate change, and global partnership continue to resonate today and provide a guide for sustainable development

Localisation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in LDCs is a critical process that involves adapting global SDGs to the local context and implementing them at the national, regional, and local levels.