Photo: Bloomberg
Covid-19 has created a “seismic shock” for citizens and governments of the world, threatening to undo the progress of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), warns South Korean politician and diplomat Ban Ki-moon.
Ban, who also served as the UN Secretary-General between 2007 and 2016, hails the adoption of the SDGs as “one of my biggest achievements”.
He was speaking at Global Philanthropic’s fourth Talking Philanthropy forum, held virtually on May 14. “The SDGs offer us with a collaborative blueprint to ensure the future we want. [They] provide us a way forward to confront the most critical issues of our time. These include poverty, education, inequality, climate change, public health and gender equality, among others,” he adds.
The 17 UN SDGs were set up in 2015 by the UN General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030.
While there have been “remarkable efforts” to meet these non-binding goals since 2015, the coronavirus pandemic presents a formidable challenge, says Ban. “[Covid-19] has brought disruption and devastating effects for so many, in particular to the lives of the most vulnerable and widened existing inequalities”.
“During 2020, an estimated 71 million people were pushed into extreme poverty. 90% of all students worldwide were kept out of schools, with at least 500 million students unable to access remote learning,” adds Ban.
“Childhood immunisation programs were interrupted in up to 70 countries and the estimated 6% drop in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 still falls short of the 7.6% reduction required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change”.
See: Credit Suisse updates investment 'supertrends' amid Covid-19, aligning to UN SDGs
In his opening address at the philanthropy forum, Ban also highlighted the final UN SDG — “partnership for the goals”. “Against this troubling backdrop, governments, philanthropists and non-profit organisations around the world have had to step up and respond in ways and on a scale like never before to support their communities,” he says.
“SDG 17 clearly highlights the prominent role that the philanthropy community, governments, the private sector, civil society, and others should play to help achieve the SDGs. It calls for, quote, ‘multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilise and share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’,” adds Ban.
“To achieve the SDGs by 2030, we need an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, where everyone joins together in partnership to harness the ownership, participation and active involvement from all sectors of all societies.”
The Talking Philanthropy forum was initially planned as a physical event to be held at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS). In his opening remarks, NUS president Tan Eng Chye touched on the changing face of philanthropy in Asia.
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“The region has and continues to enjoy an unprecedented growth in personal wealth. More high net worth individuals are based in Asia,” says Tan. “The Asia region is also home to the biggest and fastest growing industry giants, be it in manufacturing, technology or digital services. Yet, this is also a region with many pressing and diverse needs, where over 400 million people are living in extreme poverty and abject conditions”.
Representing the event’s co-host — the University of Cambridge Judge Business School — Professor Stephen Toope, who is also the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, says more work must be done to prepare the Asia Pacific region for post-pandemic recovery.
“There is as yet a lack of solid knowledge about capital flows, sector funding and growth rates in the Asia Pacific region. Such knowledge must be acquired so that we can build resilience into the post-Covid-19 ecosystem, and consolidate the vital links between governments, NGOs, philanthropists and charities,” says Toope.
“Such knowledge must be acquired so that we can best use philanthropy to meet the challenges of health, environment and education, and ensure a disaster such as this pandemic never hits in quite the same way again.”
