The UNDP has urged African countries to ensure equity, inclusion, and non-discrimination in all COVID-19 recovery strategies. And asked countries to regularly report on the progress made in reaching the most deprived and marginalized people. The UNDP indicated that this only achieve this by using disaggregated data.
This is one of the recommendations that came out of the session on country-level perspective and regional strategy. This strategy aims to support the United Nations Decade of Action and Delivery for Sustainable Development in Africa.
Views of Panelists on equity and inclusion
During the discussions, Ms. Edith Madela-Mntla of the University of Pretoria said governments should also promote land tenure security for local and indigenous women to improve their agriculture production. The government must provide support to small-scale farmers in terms of climate-friendly techniques and technologies, and access to finance.
“There will need to strengthen and progressively increase public investment in line with agreed targets. And the provision of high quality, inclusive, accessible and affordable health, and long-term care, nutrition, education, and social protection services, along with universal health-care coverage for all segments of society”.
Based on that , Ms. Madela-Mntla called on member States to improve mechanisms for meaningful and inclusive participation of stakeholders. This includes children, young people, older persons, migrants, workers, worker organizations, women, and girls. She called for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, internally displaced people, academia, persons with albinism, refugees, indigenous communities, homeless people, for instance.
She said all these people and other marginalized groups must be in the decision-making, implementation, and accounting processes. This is because their involvement should be around the Agendas 2030 2063 and COVID 19 response and recovery strategies, including the vaccine plans.
Political support provided by the center of government is very crucial at this moment. However , to achieve sustainable development goals post-COVID-19, partnerships with constituencies within and across governments are important.
Power of the SDGs
Micheline Baussard of the UNDP stated that sustainable development goals have the power to create a better world by 2030. As a result, Mr. Baussard added that it will as well end poverty, fight inequality, and address the urgency of climate change.
“We need to help member States to take ownership of this issue of sustainability. It has not been understood”.
There are four of the five sub-themes of the SDGs related to human development – People, Planet, Prosperity, and Peace.
Meanwhile, the moderator for the session, Munyaradzi Chenje, said progress toward the SDGs will be shaped by interactions between many global systems. She cited the special efforts that national societies and the global community are making to address the pandemic as one of such. She said this has accelerated the sustainable development pathway.
SDGs impact on COVID-19
This means is that, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will prove worse now than initially anticipated, hence, efficiency should be sought after.
“The possibility is there that COVID-19’s impact will prove worse than now anticipated. And a new social contract of an integrated push toward the SDGs… that combines increased efficiency of government, behavioural changes, and big investments is crucial”.
On the other hand, Baussard called for the teaching of SDGs and what they stood for from an early age in schools. He argued that this will help foster understanding and appreciation of the world. She uncovered that the National societies and the global community were broadly committed to reaching the SDGs before the pandemic.
Furthermore, Baussard said in the face of the pandemic, the next phase will be to help decision-makers look beyond recovery, toward 2030. He called for making choices and managing complexity and uncertainty in four main areas of governance. In conclusion, he said this comprises building a new social contract, social protection, green economy, and digital disruption and innovation. strategies strategies strategies
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