LIST OF ACRONYMS

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

IMF International Monetary Fund

HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus

UNGA United Nations General Assembly

SDG Sustainable Development Goals

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus

GAIN Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

MDG Millennium Development Goals

ODA Official Developing Assistance

GDP Gross Domestic Product

AAAA Addis Ababa Action Agenda

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

The argument that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the foundation of all
development work the world over, it’s a debatable one due to various factors such as the SDGs area
statement of aspirations: a voluntary agreement rather than a binding treaty. While this presents a
drawback insofar as states may be more tempted to skirt their commitments, it also presents an
opportunity insofar as states may be willing to adopt a more ambitious agenda when this agenda imposes
on them no legally binding obligations. Voluntary intergovernmental agreements, like 2030 Agenda,
thus contain the potential to raise the gaze of political elites beyond their usual preoccupations with
narrowly defined national interest to think imaginatively about that future cosmopolitan whose
foundations are now being shaped in this early stage of globalization.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development(hereon: 2030 Agenda) is an intergovernmental

agreement that is meant to guide global development efforts over the next 15 years, from 2016 until
2030.Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25,2015, its centrepiece,
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), replaces the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
which held sway from2000 until 2015. The SDGs are designed to build on the MDGs and “complete
what they did not achieve. In many ways, the eight MDGs were extremely effective in galvanizing efforts
to solve humanity’s greatest challenges.

The number of people living in extreme poverty fell from nearly 2 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015;
child mortality rates declined by more than half; and significant headway was made toward reversing
the spread of new HIV and malaria infections. State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, (2013). In
other areas, though, such as climate change and inequality, progress was stagnant or the situation
worsened. This is deliberately ambitious and transformational, with a set of 17 integrated and indivisible
Sustainable Development Goals and targets to guide us.

Crucially, it is a universal agenda, applying to all countries; even the richest have yet to fully ensure
women’s rights conquer inequality or safeguard the environment Implementation has begun. This essay
shows that the rate of progress in many areas is far slower than needed to meet the targets by 2030. These
goals can be classified in three categories that are social, economic and environmental and the writer is
only going to explore six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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1.2 DEFINATION OF KEY TERMS

 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is a process that helps improve performance and achieve
results. Its goal is to improve current and future management of outputs, outcomes and impact.
It is mainly used to assess the performance of projects, institutions and programs set up by
governments, international organisations and NGOs. It establishes links between the past,
present and future actions.
 Development work is all about sustainability of efforts in such a way that aid provided to reduce
hunger for example should go beyond alleviating hunger but supporting national systems to
ensure sustainable supply of food through strengthening agricultural efforts (long term view)
 Food security is defined as the availability of food and one's access to it. The World Food
Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing "when all people at all times have access to
sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life"
(https://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/nutrition/foodsecurity/)
 Sustainable economic growth is economic development that attempts to satisfy the needs of
humans but in a manner that sustains natural resources and the environment for future
generations. An economy functions in the ecosystem. We cannot separate the economy from it.
In fact, an economy cannot exist without it.
(http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-sustainable-economic-growth-definition-lesson-
quiz.html)

1.3 END POVERTY IN ALL ITS FORMS EVERYWHERE

End extreme poverty in all forms by 2030. Yes, it’s an ambitious goal but we believe it can be done. In
2000, the world committed to cutting the number of people living in extreme poverty by half in 15 years
and we met this goal. However, more than 800 million people around the world still live on less than
$1.25 a day (Food and Agriculture Organization. 2014). The FAO Hunger Map 2014 that is about the
equivalent of the entire population of Europe living in extreme poverty. Now it’s time to build on what
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we learned and end poverty altogether. More so poverty has been used by the developed countries to
exploit the underdeveloped countries through conditional aid which would have vice and virtues which
keep on increasing the gap between the developed and underdeveloped countries. Therefore the way
poverty should be eradicated should be put under scrutiny.

1.4 END HUNGER, ACHIEVE FOOD SECURITY AND IMPROVED NUTRITION AND
PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

In the past 20 years, hunger has dropped by almost half. Many countries that used to suffer from famine
and hunger can now meet the nutritional needs of their most vulnerable people. It’s an incredible
accomplishment. Now we can go further and end hunger and malnutrition once and for all. That means
doing things such as promoting sustainable agriculture and supporting small farmers. It’s a tall order.
But for the sake of the nearly 1 out of every 9 people on earth who go to bed hungry every night, we’ve
got to try. The World Bank. (2013), Financing for Development Post-2015

Imagine a world where everyone has access to sufficient and nutritious food all year round. Together,
we can make that a reality by 2030. However this goal has increased the dependency syndrome especially
from African Countries whom cry foul a lot about aid, as most of their governments are failing to achieve
this goal without seeking foreign assistance.

1.5 ENSURE HEALTHY LIVES AND PROMOTE WELL-BEING FOR ALL AT ALL
AGES

We all know how important it is to be in good health. Our health affects everything from how much we
enjoy life to what work we can perform. That’s why there’s a Goal to make sure everyone has health
coverage and access to safe and effective medicines and vaccines. Since 1990, we’ve made big strides
preventable child deaths are down by more than half, and maternal mortality is down by almost as much.
And yet some other numbers remain tragically high, like the fact that every year 6 million children die
before their fifth birthday, or that AIDS is the leading cause of death for adolescents in sub-Saharan
Africa. We have the means to turn that around and make good health more than just a wish. However
taking a closer look at this goal one would see that underdeveloped countries have been used as testing
grounds for certain medicines and viruses by the developed countries.

Therefore developed countries would in a way sabotage to be in an equitable situation with the
underdeveloped countries as there would be no places to test their experimental drugs and also places to
offload their cheap medicines and maximising profits at the same time. More so this goal has been made
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difficult to achieve by religion, as it emphasise less on the use of modern medicines. This has seen high
child mortality rates in Africa as most African Apostolic sects discourage their following to give birth at
hospitals or clinics.

1.6 ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROMOTE

LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

First, the bad news on education. Poverty, armed conflict and other emergencies keep many, many kids
around the world out of school. In fact, in developing regions, kids from the poorest households are four
times more likely to be out of school than those of the richest households. Now for some good news.
Since 2000, there has been enormous progress on the goal to provide primary education to all children
worldwide. The primary school enrolment rate in developing regions reached 91%. Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development. (2015), by measures in any school, that’s a good grade.

Now, let’s get an even better grade for all kids and achieve the goal of universal primary and secondary
education, a fordable vocational training, access to higher education and more. Also educational systems
are westernised thus most educational books in underdeveloped countries are written in foreign language,
this really slow the level of understanding as if it was done in native languages. As one would argue that
intelligence is not measured by the way one fluently speaks foreign language, so as long as education is
still being taught in foreign languages it will never be equitable quality education as it would be bias
towards already developed countries

1.8 ENSURE AVAILABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER AND

SANITATION FOR ALL

Everyone on earth should have access to safe and a fordable drinking water. That’s the goal for 2030.
While many people around the world take clean drinking water and sanitation for granted, many others
don’t. Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of people around the world, and that number is
projected to go even higher as a result of climate change. If we continue the path we’re on, by 2050 at
least one in four people are likely to be affected by recurring water shortages. But we can take a new
path more international cooperation, protecting wetlands and rivers, sharing water-treatment
technologies and more that leads to accomplishing this Goal. Certain efforts have also been seen in
Harare Zimbabwe were boreholes have been put in place in response to water shortages and unclean
water from the city council.

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1.9 PROMOTE SUSTAINED, INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH,
FULL AND PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND DECENT WORK FOR ALL

An important part of economic growth is that people have jobs that pay enough to support themselves
and their families. The good news is that the middle class is growing worldwide—almost tripling in size
in developing countries in the last 25 years, to more than a third of the population. Gilbert Rist points
out that “the World Bank has twisted the notion of sustainable development to prove that economic
development need not be meant to be sustained is really 'development', not the tolerance capacity of the
ecosystem or of human societies." But in 2015, we also have widening inequalities, and job growth is
not keeping pace with the growing labour force over 200 million people don’t have jobs. That’s the
equivalent of the entire population of Brazil. Things don’t have to be that way. We can promote policies
that encourage entrepreneurship and job creation. We can eradicate forced labour, slavery and human
trafficking. And in the end we can achieve the goal of decent work for all women and men by 2030.

1.10 BUILD RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE, PROMOTE INCLUSIVE AND

SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIALIZATION AND FOSTER INNOVATION

Technological progress helps us address big global challenges such as creating jobs and becoming more
energy efficient. The world is becoming ever more interconnected and prosperous thanks to the internet.
The more connected we are, the more we can all benefit from the wisdom and contributions of people
everywhere on earth. And yet four billion people have no way of getting online, the vast majority of
them in developing countries. The more we invest in innovation and infrastructure, the better off we’ll
all be. Bridging the digital divide, promoting sustainable industries, and investing in scientific research
and innovation are all important ways to facilitate sustainable development. Unity and globalisation are
two components most essential to this goal, the more we work together as a unity the easier it would be
for us to deal with our problems.

1.11 ENSURE SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION PATTERNS

Some people use a lot of stuff, and some people use very little in fact, a big share of the world population
is consuming too little to meet even their basic needs. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can have a
world where everybody gets what they need to survive and thrive. And we can consume in a way that
preserves our natural resources so that our children can enjoy them, and their children and their children
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after that. The hard part is how to achieve that goal. We can manage our natural resources more
efficiently and dispose of toxic waste better. Cut per capita food waste in half globally. Get businesses
and consumers to reduce and recycle waste. And help countries that have typically not consumed a lot
to move towards more responsible consumption patterns.

1.12 HOW CAN BUSINESS ENTERPRISES HELP WITH THE SDGs?

So, we know that business will need to be proactive and creative to get the most from the Goals and this
begins with being transparent about them through reporting.

 Many enterprises can see the SDG’s as a common language to build bridges with stakeholders
for example, business may convene with their peers around the table to talk about sustainable
cities and communities (SDG 11), or their suppliers around responsible consumption and
production (SDG 12). Business may apply UN Sustainable Development Summit in their work,
as GlaxoSmithKline did in September 2015, or join multi-stakeholder initiatives relevant to their
sector, like the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
 They can select the goals that are most relevant to our business (material issues) and where they
think progress can be made (e.g. Coca Cola focused on SDG 6 water and sanitation, while Tesco,
Nestle and Unilever are homing in on target 3 food waste within SDG 12). We must not be
overwhelmed by 169 targets any nation or business pick the ones that inform the type of
performance disclosures they make. But do try to keep all goals on the long-term radar.

However even though many civil society groups are broadly supportive of the post-2015 development
framework, not least because the new global goals place environmental sustainability at the heart of the
programme. Compared to the MDGs, the newly-agreed targets are also far more universal and inclusive:
they emerged from a two year public consultation that incorporated the views of developing countries,
they apply to countries in both the Global North and South, and they seek to engage all stakeholders in
the implementation process over the next 15 years. Indeed, the overarching promise of a global compact
to provide universal access to social protection and “leave no one behind” is rightly ambitious and fully
in line with the United Nations Charter, as well as international covenants that pertain to the fulfilment
of basic human rights.

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However, the real question is whether governments will be able to raise and redistribute the large sums
of money needed to meet the goals, especially at a time when many countries are still adjusting to the
impacts of the global financial crisis, experiencing low rates of economic growth, and reducing public
spending on Official Developing Assistance (ODA).

International aid: The commitment for OECD countries to provide 0.7% of GDP as Official
Development Assistance (ODA) is already 45 years old, but despite the ongoing efforts of campaigners
very few donors have achieved that minimal target let alone committed to increase their contributions to
levels that are commensurate with urgent global needs. The FAO Hunger Map, FAO (2014)

Differentiated responsibilities: To the dismay of many developing countries and civil society groups,
the SDGs place a disproportionate emphasis on developing countries needing to raise additional finances
domestically. This perspective largely ignores the historical injustices and structural inequalities that are
the underlying cause of poverty and environmental problems, such as the extraction of wealth and
resources from developing countries during the colonial era, or today’s unfair international trade and
finance arrangements.

Debt cancellation: Although the AAAA acknowledges that many countries are still vulnerable to debt
crises, the burden of fault and responsibility was placed squarely on developing countries. Rich countries
pushed for debt discussions to continue under the IMF and OECD rather than the United Nations, and
they opposed the multilateral legal framework to guarantee the just and equitable treatment for creditors
and debtors that the G77 and African nations were proposing. As such, governments failed to establish
a legal mechanism for orderly debt restructuring in accordance with the long-held demands of developing
nations and civil society organisations – even though debt cancellation would enable developing
countries to fund the more effective and comprehensive social protection programs that are required in
order to meet the SDGs.

1.13 CONCLUSION

Most people, even the supposed experts latching happily on to the karma these terms induce, confound
cause and consequence and apply the terms sustainability and renewability indiscriminately.
Sustainability and renewability are not the same, and quite the opposite in terms of their role and impact
in the process of evolution. To achieve a cause of sustainability one must subscribe to the consequences
of renewability. Sustainability (of the near infinite form) can only be achieved by its support for
renewability (of finite form). Sustainability relies on a renewable process to constantly readjust itself to

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a moving target of an equilibrium with an ever changing nature. A best proxy of infinite as the product
of evolutionary finitism.

Therefore, for a species to become sustainable (for a prolonged time), it is imperative for it to renew
itself. Indeed, the process of dying, reproduction and birth is imperative for any species to adapt and
renew itself to meet an ever evolving equilibrium with nature. Hence, the folks with a selfish desire to
live as long as medically possible are those who are ignorant to the role of renewability to the
strengthening and maximization of the sustainability of mankind. Personal sustainability endangers the
quest of the sustainability of mankind.

The process of dying, according to the process of renewability, shall not be avoided, nor looked down
upon. Easier said than done when it is your time. Same with companies. For a company to produce
sustainable value it must pair itself to the process and needs of an ever changing evolution. It must not
build products or services based on the false and ignorant proclamation of sustainability, but it must
produce products and services that are renewable, in constant adaptation to the world it aims to serve.

The advantage of building renewability that prolongs sustainability is crystal clear. Through new ways
of aligning ourselves to evolution we may have a chance to delay the anthropogenic demise of mankind
renowned British scientist Steven Hawking projects will be our destiny in about a 1,000 years. The
disadvantage is we will no longer celebrate the richest men in the cemetery.