By Winnie Kamau
At the sidelines of the 14th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD14) that took place in Kenya’s capital Nairobi was the unveiling of one of the vital measuring tool that will be used to help plan and access the achievements of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The new tool that was launched by the Secretary General of UNCTAD, Mukhisa Kituyi reveals some of the crucial Data gaps missing in the newly adopted goals dubbed the SDGs. The SDGs were preceded by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ran for 15 years. This saw the Developed countries make magnanimous pledges and support to the Developing and Least Developed Countries in bid to help them catch up and bridge inequalities yet they have failed in fulfilling this promises. Mukhisa noted that if rich countries had consistently met the 0.7 % target since 2002, then developing countries would have been $2 trillion better off .“The Sustainable Development Goals represent the outcome of long, serious discussions on how we want our world to look in 2030, but this vision needs serious nuance.”
Unfortunately one of the biggest criticism for the achievement of this goals stands till date is the lack of tools to measure the achievement of this goals as noted by Head of UNCTAD Statistics Department, Steve Macfeely “One of the biggest criticism after the Millennium Development Goals they were seven Years into the program before any data emerged”. This begged the question how achievable are this goals without Data to support implementation of this target’s.
The same risk is set to be run into by the newly adopted SDGs if no measures are put in place notes Macfeely “How achievable are this new set targets, can we put a database an assessment of the goals and putting the data into plan”. As Macfeely continues asking this questions it is clear from the UNCTAD report released by UNCTAD Statistics Department reveals one crucial thing is that many of the set targets do not have Data to back them up.
The Data gaps are posing a threat to achievement of the SDGs and this sounds a wakeup call to Nations who have ascended to this new goals. The UNCTAD Statistics Department using their new portal showing Facts and Figures were able to cover 52 Targets with trade elements out of the 169 targets set from the 17 Goals. Macfeely notes “There are many data gaps and we understand the challenges of tradeoffs using SDGs”.
This is the first portal that has been built to measure the SDGs and has revealed the major Data Gaps that need to be filled up. This tool is set to show the achievement of this goals will not be a smooth ride. The new portal uses different visualizations including charts, interactive maps and graphs. Sonia Blachier the Data Manager at UNCTAD notes “This tool is new modern and accessible to the people it can be understood by all even without having statistical background”.
Norway’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Camilla Høvding Blom in her speech during the UNCTAD meeting defended her country noting that Norway had a long-standing cooperation with UNCTAD on debt issues. “As the focal point of the United Nations system for debt issues, UNCTAD is well positioned to shape opinions and promote important debt-related issues at the international level.” Camilla recognized that ,“Norway has been a donor to the project on Promoting Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing. We encourage UNCTAD to continue its efforts to seek wider endorsement for the Principles on Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing.”
Camilla also acclaimed the need to have Data lead the implementation of the goals “I would like to touch briefly on the need for results-based management and increased effectiveness”.
From the UNCTAD report it also shows that SDGs will be more expensive to implement than the MDGs. Partly because nations will be using their own funds and not wholly relying on the Developed nations for support. Macfeely says, “If you do not have facts and figures you just have an opinion.”
