Sustainable Development Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Relatively few would pick Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 as their “favourite” out of the 17 goals. However, it is a very important goal, which all the other SDGs are reliant upon. SDG 17 Partnership for the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015 for example, the Global Compact Network Canada conducted a SDGs Survey asking Canadian businesses to rank the top 5 SDGs according to their importance within Canada and in the world, in terms of the company’s existing initiatives and the importance for own business. The results of this survey were very interesting, and it was striking to see that SDG 17 was consistently ranked among the lowest of the priorities in each of the four questions.

In reality, goal 17 is a very important goal and deserves a lot more attention as the success of the SDGs as a whole largely relies on successful partnerships. The aim of SDG 17 is to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”. In fact, with 19 targets, SDG 17 includes a more comprehensive number of sub-targets than any other goal. These include targets related to finance, technology, capacity-building, trade, policy and institutional coherence, multi-stakeholder partnerships and data, monitoring and accountability. 

Admittedly, those key words might sound less appealing than other goals with titles such as “Zero Hunger” or “Climate Action” but they are crucial for a successful sustainable development framework. How can long-term and accessible “Quality Education” be achieved without financial means, capacity and innovative technological tools? How can we guarantee “to leave no one behind” without timely reliable data that tells us who and where the most vulnerable groups are that we need to focus on?

The world is more interconnected today than ever before, thanks to the internet, travel and global institutions. There’s a growing consensus about the need to work together to stop climate change. And the Sustainable Development Goals are no small matter either. 193 countries agreed on these goals. Pretty incredible, isn’t it? 193 countries agreeing on anything? The final goal lays out a way for nations to work together to achieve all the other Goals.

Successful implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals depends on a comprehensive funding framework that goes beyond official development assistance commitments. Alongside public and private funding, the political sphere will also be expected to make a greater contribution to achieving the goals in question. In July 2015, the international community agreed to a new framework for financing and implementing sustainable development – the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

Let’s have a closer look at what some of the targets of SDG 17 entail and how it applies to the world:

Goal 17 calls on developed countries to renew their commitment to allocate 0.7% of their gross national income to official development assistance. It aims for a greater mobilisation of domestic resources to reduce dependence on foreign support, as well as enhanced international collaboration in science, technology and innovation, and the promotion of an equitable multilateral trading system.

Goal 17 also advocates enhancing macroeconomic stability and policy coherence in the interests of sustainable development.

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Finance

Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection.

Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance (ODA/GNI) to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries.

Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources.

Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress.

Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries.

Technology

Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism.

Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed.

Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology.

Capacity-building

Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.

Trade

Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda.

Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020.

Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access.

Systemic issues

Policy and institutional coherence

Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence

Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development

Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development.

Multi-stakeholder partnerships

Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries.

Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

Data, monitoring and accountability

By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts

By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries.

The SDGs can only be realized with a strong commitment to global partnership and cooperation. While official development assistance from developed countries increased by 66 percent between 2000 and 2014, humanitarian crises brought on by conflict or natural disasters continue to demand more financial resources and aid. Many countries also require Official Development Assistance to encourage growth and trade.  

The world today is more interconnected than ever before. Improving access to technology and knowledge is an important way to share ideas and foster innovation. Coordinating policies to help developing countries manage their debt, as well as promoting investment for the least developed, is vital to achieve sustainable growth and development.

The goals aim to enhance North-South and South-South cooperation by supporting national plans to achieve all the targets. Promoting international trade, and helping developing countries increase their exports, is all part of achieving a universal rules-based and equitable trading system that is fair and open, and benefits all.

Libraries support this goal by supporting……

Libraries provide a global network of community-based institutions ready to support national development plans locally and nationally, and a resource for improved decision-making.

Conclusion 

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with their 169 targets, form the core of the 2030 Agenda. They balance the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainable development, and place the fight against poverty and sustainable development on the same agenda for the first time.

The SDGs are to be achieved around the world, and by all UN member states, by 2030. This means that all states are called upon equally to play their part in finding shared solutions to the world's urgent challenges. Switzerland is also required to implement the Goals on a national basis. In addition, incentives are to be created to encourage non-governmental actors to make an increasingly active contribution to sustainable development.

Recommendations for Policymakers

1. Include libraries in your national development plans

National development plans will shape many government spending and programme priorities. These plans can include a single national development plan, or individual plans for broadband, digital inclusion, or social development amongst others. Whether people need the latest on crop prices or where to find medical care, progress toward the Goals relies on information-sharing. Libraries are especially effective at extending access to information to marginalised populations, and at times of crisis or transition.

2. Partner with libraries

Libraries can partner with government and others to implement national strategies and programmes to make sure that no one is left behind. The access to information that libraries can provide underpins the entire UN 2030 Agenda, and supports poverty eradication, sustainable and productive agriculture, quality education, health and all other Goals. In libraries, governments have an established, cost-effective and powerful partner in the fight for poverty reduction, economic development, and learning for all.

3. Work with libraries to raise awareness about the SDGS, and what they mean locally

As part of the UN 2030 Agenda, each country is being asked to make sure that everyone, from stakeholder organisations to the general public, knows about the SDGs and why they matter to everyone. Librarians can help by providing information and updates about the SDGs both for decision makers and people in local communities:

• Libraries can share information about the SDGs and national development priorities within their communities and across borders, and connect people with further information about the Goals online;

• Libraries designated as UN Depository Libraries and UN Information Centers across the world fulfil an essential role in communicating UN information and research, and getting the feedback that helps local and national decision makers achieve the Goals.

My last word: 

In the context of the UN 2030 Agenda, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) believes that increasing access to information and knowledge across society, assisted by the availability of information and communications technologies (ICTs), supports sustainable development and improves people’s lives. The new UN 2030 Agenda is an inclusive, integrated framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) spanning economic, environmental and social development. By achieving this Agenda, no one will be left behind. Libraries are key institutions to help achieve the Goals. Public access to information enables people to make informed decisions that can improve their lives. Communities that have access to timely and relevant information for all are better positioned to eradicate poverty and inequality, improve agriculture, provide quality education, and support people’s health, culture, research, and innovation. Access to information has been recognised in the SDGs as a target under Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels:

Target 16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.

Culture (target 11.4) and ICT (targets 5b, 9c, 17.8) have also been included in the SDGs.

Half of the world’s population lacks access to information online. In our knowledge society, libraries provide access and opportunity for all.

And, universal literacy is recognised in the vision for the UN 2030 Agenda.

We envision…a world with universal literacy.

UN 2030 Agenda

Worldwide, 320,000 public libraries and more than a million parliamentary, national, university, research, school, and special libraries ensure that information and the skills to use it are available to everyone, making them critical institutions for all in the digital age. Libraries provide information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, help people develop the capacity to use information effectively, and preserve information to ensure ongoing access for future generations. They provide an established, trusted network of local institutions that can reach out effectively to all parts of the population.

I would like to thank all my followers and readers for keeping in touch with my posts. My next assignment will be “ AU Agenda 2063” Details will be communicated later. Watch this space.

Email:haumban@gmail.com