Achieving development objectives remains a tall order in Africa as the continent’s leaders address the world at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Development Diaries reports that world leaders are speaking under the theme, ‘Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all’.
Africa still lags behind much of the world in terms of socioeconomic growth despite the SDGs’ widespread adoption and advancement.
No doubt, the SDGs were always a very ambitious set of targets for the continent, stretching across economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.
For instance, the continent is suffering from continued loss of forest cover, land degradation and reduced biodiversity, mainly due to deforestation for animal grazing but also as a result of climate change.
Also, progress on ensuring the provision of quality education for all has been slow partly because of conflict and associated displacement.
Presidents of Seychelles, Namibia, Ghana, Angola, Sierra Leone, and Liberia all made addresses with a common theme being the urgent need to re-establish trust and rekindle global cooperation in the face of complicated changes.
As for the Seychelles President, Wavel Ramkalawan, he emphasised the need for the international community to step up collaborative efforts in order to make significant progress towards the SDGs.
For his part, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa urged allies from developed nations to fulfil their financial climate obligations they made to combat global warming in developing countries.
For the Nigerian leader, Bola Tinubu, he urged true partnership for the development of the continent.
Africa has a number of priorities for its achievement of the SDGs. These priority areas are: taking actions towards increasing commitments to agricultural productivity, boosting its manufacturing sector, providing access to safe drinking water, and taking climate actions towards protecting an already vulnerable continent.
Other areas of priority include enhancing the efficient use of energy resources, enhancing sustainable tourism, achieving gender equality, achieving universal education and health coverage, limiting ecological degradation and safeguarding forests and natural habitats.
A joint report published at the African Economic Conference 2022 in Mauritius concluded that without quicker progress towards achieving the SDGs, at least 492 million people in Africa will remain in extreme poverty in 2030 and 350 million in 2050.
The report, produced by the African Union Commission, the UN Development Programme, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), recommended reducing overreliance on food imports by transforming agricultural productivity through modernisation.
Development Diaries calls on the continent’s leaders to ensure they take actionable steps towards addressing these priority areas.
Photo source: UNGA