Government’s total spending on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) went up by GH¢4.4 billion in 2020, representing a 14 percentage point increase over 2019. According to the Ministry of Finance, total spending on the SDGs rose from GH¢31.4 billion in 2019 to GH¢35.8 billion in 2020.

The MoF revealed that for 2019 and 2020, Greater Accra, Ashanti Region, Northern Region and Eastern Region were among the regions to receive the most funds for the SDGs. Meanwhile, Ghana has shown commitment towards meeting the Goals over the years. As a result, it developed the SDGs Budget Report as a decision-making tool that helps Government to track SDGs financing.

This report enables the government to access the annual budget allocations and expenditures under each of the 17 goals. This, according to the MoF, is “because the national budget is aligned to the targets of the SDGs and Ghana’s Medium Term Development Plan”.

On May 27, 2021, the Ministry of Finance launched the third edition of its annual SDGs Budget Reports. The 2020 SDGs Budget Report is a continuation of Government efforts to evaluate and define the funding gap for the SDGs. According to the MoF, this is very important as it creates a financing mechanism that enables the country to fund and execute the Global Goals.

Most funded Goal

The recent report shows that Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals) received the most funding in 2019 and 2020. Total allocations to Goal 17 was GH¢ 32 billion in 2019 but increased to GH¢34.9 billion in 2020. Goal 17 focuses on strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development.

Surprisingly, Goal 5 (Gender Equality) received GH¢26.1 million in 2019 and GH¢65.0 million in 2020, the least allocation to a goal at the national level. Meanwhile, following the outbreak of the COVID-19, reports have shown a surge in reported cases of domestic violence against women and girls across the globe. Available evidence also shows that some cases of domestic violence have been recorded in Ghana during the onset of the pandemic.

Additionally, hours of unpaid domestic work have also radically shifted to women, due to the closure of schools last year. Besides, Ghana has only made marginal gains in women empowerment over the years. In 2020, there were 37 women in Parliament, representing 13% of Members of Parliament, which has been the case since 2018. This is still below the 30% target for the nation.

Commitment to meeting the SDGs

Nevertheless, government is still keen on meeting the goals as such, the government is making efforts to deepen private sector participation in the SDGs. For instance, the government in collaboration with business leaders set up the CEOs Advisory Group on SDGs. The objective of the group is to identify ways of scaling up investments necessary to achieve the Goals. The Group will also help to collectively agree on financing “quick wins” to help advance efforts towards achieving the SDGs. The MoF said this will “make the SDGs an integral part of businesses”.

This highlights the government’s commitment towards meeting the Global Goals. Moreover, Ghana has made some significant strides in achieving the SDGs. For instance, the country made significant progress on SDG 1, by reducing the poverty rate by half at the end of 2015. However, progress on some of the Goals have been sluggish.

The United Nations General Assembly set the SDGs in 2015, intended to be achieved by all nations across the world by 2030. The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked Global Goals which the UN designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all “. The SDGs are future development framework that succeeded the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) which ended in 2015.