Víctor Fernández García
Are the steps towards Agenda 2030 correct? New Hope?
If we talk about development cooperation today, it is
still considered a synonym for financial aid or official development
assistance. However, development cooperation should maintain its focus on
developing countries and internationally agreed concepts, building on the
achievements of the global agenda.
In particular, development cooperation should fulfil
three main tasks: to support and complement the efforts of developing countries
aimed at facilitating social standards for their citizens, to promote the
convergence of developing countries and, finally, to support the efforts of
developing countries with a view to actively participating in the provision of
international public goods.[1]
We can say that the two principles on which
development theory is based are behind us. That is, the principle of
difference: the developing world is a concrete reality (different from that of
developed countries) that requires new categories of analysis; and the
principle of similarity: with appropriate policies the developing world can
converge with the developed world.
Now, instead of the North-South duality on which the
principle of difference was based, countries are spread over a wider scale with
different levels of development. And instead of convergence, we have to move to
new patterns of development, because the world would be unsustainable if we
tried to maintain the principle of convergence.[2]
In other words, the problem is not how to make
developing countries become like developed countries, but how to make both
groups of countries move, from different starting points, towards new
sustainable models of development.
Source: UN
In order to tackle this problem, the new Agenda 2030
has emerged, which is made up of 17 interrelated objectives, ranging from local
needs to national development challenges and also transnational challenges. It
is not a minimum agenda as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were, but an
ambitious and challenging agenda, which seeks to move countries towards
sustainable development strategies.[3]
The UN agreement on Agenda 2030 opens a window of
opportunity for countries to face the challenges of the present and move
towards more sustainable development models. That there is an Agenda is no
guarantee that everything can be done, the only thing it offers - and there is
no small amount - is a tool for societies and their governments to set to work
what was agreed in New York.[4]
For there to be sustained progress and change, it will
be necessary to implement Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in its joint
form with the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action, the Paris Agreement on Climate
Change, the 2015-2030 Sendái Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the New
Urban Agenda.
Cooperation should continue to support developing
countries with different agendas and context-specific programmes. In such a way
that Agenda 2030 will help to reduce efforts, increase efficiency and
strengthen the impact on development.
An example of how Agenda 2030 has worked is the
support of African countries to integrate the goals and targets of Agenda 2030
and Agenda 2063 of the African Union into their national development
frameworks. In January 2018, the approval of the African Union-United Nations
Framework for the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 was reaffirmed
to integrate, coordinate and monitor them.[5]
The adaptation of Agenda 2030 will require mutual
accountability and transparency not between developing country governments and
international development cooperation partners, but also to many other actors
such as development banks, the private sector, civil society and others.[6]
Now, what role is Spain going to play? Spain has seen
its image as a donor damaged and its weight on the multilateral scene
diminished, as well as its capacity for dialogue with Latin America. Moreover,
opportunities have been missed to broaden Spain's projection through its
responsible involvement in the international development agenda.
For this reason, Spain must carry out a profound
reform of the cooperation system, its institutional structure and the
regulatory frameworks that condition its decisions in the area of international
cooperation.[7]
Therefore, Agenda 2030 is a unique opportunity to put
all countries to work in an effort to transform reality, to solve some of the
most important challenges of the present and to seek sustainable strategies at
the national and international levels.
And whether or not the Agenda becomes a reality will
depend on the commitments made by governments and the pressure that societies
exert to force those commitments to be fulfilled. The tools to activate the
processes are already available, but now the task is for the international
society and the policies of the countries.[8]
Finally, the second United Nations High-Level
Conference on South-South Cooperation, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
in March, will give the international community the opportunity to review
trends and assess progress to date in: promoting development, analysing
experience in South-South cooperation and reaffirming Agenda 2030 for
Sustainable Development.[9]
Source: UN
Victor, this is an interesting reflection but I am not sure why you think the MDGs were a minimalist agenda and the SDGs will transform reality much more. Please explain briefly. Thank you. Prof. Freres
ResponderEliminarWhen I refer to the fact that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were minimalist, I mean that the international community wanted, at the start of the new century, to give new impetus to international cooperation efforts to put an end to extreme poverty, hunger, infant mortality or gender discrimination, as well as to provide primary education for the entire population, among other basic and necessary needs.
EliminarIt is true that the MDGs made an important contribution to ensuring an international consensus on an agenda with commitments and targets.
While the international community can congratulate itself on some significant achievements in reducing poverty, hunger and access to education, it is also true that there were major gaps between countries and areas of action.
A more ambitious and comprehensive approach, such as that adopted by Agenda 2030, is therefore necessary if the challenges of a more complex and interdependent world are to be met. V. Fndz.