Sultanate reviews progress made on SDGs
Muscat – Oman is among six countries in the Arab world to have achieved 60 per cent of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A report released by the World Government Summit Organization, in partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, titled Arab Region Sustainable Development Goals Index 2022 has revealed big differences in the progress that Arab countries are making towards achieving the UNSDGs.
Six countries lead the regional score, with a total index score of 66 or more achieved by Jordan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco and Oman, in the descending order. As a whole, the Arab region score in terms of achieving the sustainable development goals averages 58.2 out of 100, ‘and it is clear that we have a challenge in making much greater effort and cooperation across the region to achieve the sustainable development goals during the next eight years,’ the report stated.
The 22 Arab countries have a red score for nearly half of the 17 SDGs. Poor and conflict-affected countries face the greatest risk in achieving the goals. Five countries have been reordered as the least developed, including two countries that suffer from internal conflicts – Syria and Libya. ‘These countries will need enormous efforts in both domestically and by their regional and international partners to ensure their growth and development with the other Arab countries.’
The variation between the 22 Arab countries reflects big differences in performance in many social and economic indicators. The report identified key weaknesses in Arab countries’ SDG results so far, most notably in SDG 5 (gender equality), which is described as the most important challenge across the region, followed by the goals of SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth).
Challenges also remain in SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). Other SDGs show more variation, which in turn requires country-specific policy recommendations and solutions to bring fast solutions to overcome the challenges.
The region has recorded positive trends in three important areas related to education, clean energy and climate change. Many countries are on the right track to achieve SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 7 (clean and affordable energy) and 13 (climate action).
The report states that the main challenges include large gaps in data needed to measure sustainable development performance in the region, particularly with regard to the distribution of income and wealth.
The most important gaps in data currently appear in SDG 1 (No poverty) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). In both areas, the gaps are due to a lack of data on the distribution of income and wealth. There is also a gap in data about SDG 7 (clean and affordable energy) in least developed countries.
Sultanate reviews progress made on SDGs
Oman has made significant progress in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and objectives since the sultanate submitted its first voluntary report to the UN in 2019, H E Dr Nasser bin Rashid al Mawali, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, told a gathering on Monday.
“Oman is keen to translate its international commitment to achieving these goals by 2030 by integrating sustainable development goals into various national policies, initiatives and programmes,” he said, adding that the goals and objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development have become a major component of successive Five-Year Plans and a pivotal component of the Oman Vision 2040.
H E Mawali informed that Oman, represented by the Ministry of Economy, is currently preparing the second voluntary report on the progress made in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, to be presented at a forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council in New York during the next session in July 2023.
H E Mawali was speaking at a workshop to prepare the second voluntary report on Monday.
In his opening speech of the workshop, H E Dr Saeed bin Mohammed al Saqri, Minister of Economy, explained that it was held within the framework of strengthening cooperation and integration between the Ministry of Economy and partners from the public and private sectors to monitor progress in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Representatives of the State and Shura councils, government agencies, private sector and civil society institutions, as well as academic institutions and relevant regional and international organisations participated in the workshop.
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