Reviving the global cooperation for sustainable development is the focus of Goal 17. 

To guarantee that no one is left behind in our quest for prosperity, the Sustainable prosperity Goals can only be achieved with a strong commitment to international engagement and cooperation. But not all nations are starting from the same place, and low- and middle-income nations are struggling to keep up with the massive debt tsunami. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, developing nations are facing an unprecedented increase in their external debt levels. This is made worse by issues like record inflation, rising interest rates, conflicting priorities, and limited fiscal capacity, which emphasizes the urgent need for debt relief and financial support. The rise in 2022 is mostly attributable to aid to Ukraine and expenditure on refugees in donor nations, even if official development assistance (ODA) flows are still at all-time highs. In order to succeed, industrialized nations must execute their formal pledges to provide development aid, and everyone must mobilize both current and new resources.

Why?

Given the COVID-19 pandemic’s aftermath, it is now clearer than ever that bolstering global alliances and multilateralism is essential to resolving the world’s issues. Why we concerned about this? Together, we are in this. With its 17 universal objectives, the Agenda urges both developed and developing nations to take action to guarantee that no one is left behind.

To what extent have we advanced?

Despite significant and ongoing obstacles, support for achieving the SDGs has been consistent yet brittle. Trade tensions have been rising, financial resources are still limited, and important data is still missing. The digital gap still exists even though a larger portion of the world’s population has access to the Internet and a Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries has been formed.

What would it take for us to get here as partners?

Both current and new resources—financial, technological, and capacity-building—will need to be mobilized, and wealthy nations will need to satisfy their formal pledges to provide development aid. In order to maximize the efficacy and impact of the Sustainable Development Goals and hasten the process of accomplishing them, multistate holder partnerships will be essential.

How do we make sure the necessary resources are mobilized efficiently?

Countries will have the primary responsibility for this. Every nation must conduct frequent reviews of progress, engaging representatives of diverse interest groups, business, and civil society. Countries will exchange experiences and address shared problems at the regional level, while the United Nations’ High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will evaluate global progress annually, pointing out gaps and new problems and suggesting solutions.

Goal 17 targets

• Following the COVID-19 pandemic, developing nations are facing an unprecedented increase in their external debt levels. This is made worse by issues like record inflation, rising interest rates, conflicting priorities, and limited fiscal capacity, which emphasizes the urgent need for debt relief and financial support.
• The rise in 2022 is mostly attributable to aid to Ukraine and expenditure on refugees in donor nations, even if official development assistance (ODA) flows are still at all-time highs.
  Even though Internet connectivity has increased by 65% since 2015, post-pandemic progress in closing the digital gap has stagnated. To guarantee that everyone has fair access to the Internet, persistent efforts are needed.
• International collaboration and coordination are hampered by geopolitical tensions and the rise of nationalism, underscoring the need for a coordinated push to provide poor nations the funding and technology they need to achieve the SDGs more quickly.
• An anticipated 5.3 billion people, or 66% of the world’s population, utilized the Internet in 2022, up from 3 billion in 2015, or 40%. In 2022, there were 259 million more males than women using the Internet worldwide.
• Only $541 million was allocated internationally for data and statistics in 2020, a drop of about $100 million and $138 million, respectively, from funding levels in 2019 and 2018. ODA funding for data decreased by around 20% between 2018 and 2020. Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) were traded for $2,364 billion in 2020, a 5% increase from 2015.