The 17 SDGs initially emerged from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conference on sustainable development in Brazil in 2012 and were finally approved and adopted in 2015 at the UN General Assembly by all 193 countries present at the time.
The goals replaced the eight MDGs or Millennium Development Goals, which were launched by the UNDP in 2000 with the commitment from world leaders to fight poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women in all parts of the world.
The debate is on whether the MDGs were a failure or part success but an analysis I saw painted more red than green against each MDG. Well, the question arises: if MDGs would be successful, why do we then have the SDGs? It is possible that the UN may come up with some other set of goals when SDGs expire in 2030, or may extend the validity of the existing goals.
The SDGs were developed with a noble intention to meet the growing challenges on the environment, politics, economy and other areas related to the improvement in the condition of the people, primarily from lower cadres of society. The goals were selected based on voting by all UN member states since these were found to be relevant in all jurisdictions.
The SDGs are a commitment by all UN member countries to address the most urgent problems of the world through joint efforts. Most of the goals are interconnected and success in one goal complements the others. The idea is for every country to clean your own house first before helping the others. As such, the governments are responsible to allocate resources and mobilize funds for each goal. The weaker countries may seek assistance through UN’s SDG Fund.
Unfortunately, as per a recent UNDP report, the 2030 deadline now seems unrealistic due to COVID-19, wars, climate disasters, etc. What is more, the cost of meeting SDG targets has reportedly risen by 25% to reach US$176 trillion mainly due to inflation.
It is not clear from UN resources as to how much has already been invested in SDGs up to 2022. However, collecting such a massive amount in the remaining seven years seems next to impossible.
In my opinion, it will be crucial for the private sector from UN member countries to get fully involved in accomplishing the SDGs as the assistance from donor agencies and the government allocations alone will prove highly inadequate.
On average, a well-run private sector in a developing country accounts for up to 60% of a country’s GDP, 80% of capital flows and 90% of jobs. An innovative approach is needed to make the private sector an effective stakeholder for SDGs.
Apart from the lukewarm response from the private sector thus far, the other factors responsible for increased SDG outlays are rising costs associated with achieving the most important net-zero carbon emission.
Also, some of the SDGs, particularly No 1 (‘No Poverty’) and No 2 (‘No Hunger’), were seen reversing the gains, as the additional 100 million people were pushed to extreme poverty and 210 million more are facing food insecurity.
Another factor for low interest is that the SDGs are ‘cause-based’ initiatives rather than the ‘return-oriented’ business case. The private sector would invest in the SDGs if it is able to gain market returns.
The critics say that the SDGs did not factor in the pandemic (COVID-19) and conflicts (Russia–Ukraine war) and hence it will be difficult for the UN to see a happy ending to the SDG chronicle by 2030.
About 100 scientists, economists and professionals from other fields have recently written to the UN to scrap the SDGs since they believe it was an ill-conceived initiative. However, they did not provide any solution or alternative. Moreover, why didn’t they make noise in 2015 when the goals were being debated for adoption?
Starting from today, I will pick each goal in the ascending order and describe the purpose of the goal followed by explaining the Islamic teachings surrounding the goal.
Goal 1: ‘No Poverty’
The UNDP assessed in 2015 that 736 million people still lived on less than US$1.9 a day. It was estimated that the economic growth in countries with a big population, ie China and India, has lifted millions out of the aforementioned poverty threshold but the progress is far from satisfactory. Women were found to be more likely to be poor than men because they are paid lower than men, have less education and do not own property.
I would like to quote the following passages from the Holy Quran on poverty alleviation:
1. Sura Al-Ma’arij (Chapter named as the ‘Elevated Passages’) Verse 24–25 “And in their wealth is a recognized right. For the (needy) who asks and the one who is deprived.”
2. Sura Al Baqara (Chapter named as ‘The Cow’) Verse 177
“It is not (only) righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West (in Prayer). But the righteousness is to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Prophets, and to give of your wealth out of love for Him, to your kin and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves.”
Below are the sayings of Prophet Muhammad on removal of poverty:
1. “Allah said: ‘O son of Adam! Spend (on poor), and I shall spend on you.’” [Al-Bukhari]
2. “Whoever is made wealthy by Allah and does not pay Zakat of his wealth, then on the Day of Resurrection his wealth will be made like a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two black spots over the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck and bite his cheeks and say: ‘I am your wealth, I am your treasure.’” [Al-Bukhari].
So, what solutions do Islam offer to eradicate poverty and have these been tried anywhere in the Islamic rule? God willing, I will explain it in the next article.
The purpose of this educative series and the article is not to hurt any religious or commercial sentiments either consciously or even unwittingly.
Sohail Zubairi is an Islamic finance specialist, AAOIFI-certified Shariah advisor and auditor as well as CIAE-certified Islamic arbitrator and expert. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Next week: Discussion on all UNDP SDGs shall continue.