No much chance

The international community gets carried away sometimes by adopting goals for the future that have no chance of being implemented.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are but one example.

A swift glance at these ambitious objectives reveals the extent of the hypocrisy of the international community, which sets far-reaching goals that have little or no chance of being realised.

These 17 SDGs were adopted on September 15, 2015, as part of the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and on the back of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted by the UN in 2000 with the goal of eradicating poverty, huger, illiteracy and disease, which came to an end in 2015.

To be sure, none of these previous aspirations came to fruition in the sense they were first conceived, articulated and adopted.

Yet the “dreams” for the future continue, reviving hopes. 

The SDGs contain “dreams” like combating poverty and hunger, promoting good health, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry and innovation infrastructure, equity, responsible consumption and productivity, climate control, protecting life on land and in seas, and promoting peace and justice.

These are all beautiful and noble goals, but does anyone believe they are attainable within 15 years, as stipulated?

At a time when regional tensions and wars are on the rise and big and small countries are spending billions on weapons, including on increasing their nuclear arsenals, where is the money going to come from for the realisations of these goals?

The first order of things for the international community should be to re-establish international peace and security if it is to divert investment from tools of war to the 17 SDGs.

Since the advent to power of US and Russian presidents, the two superpowers are seeking to expand their nuclear and non-nuclear arsenal.

Other, smaller, nations are following suit by diverting more and more of their resources to enhance their war capabilities.

Billions of dollars are being spent on “defence” objectives.

How can the world move in the direction of the 17 goals under current regional and international war-like conditions?

Not to mention that respect for human rights and humanitarian law is at a low.

Grave violations of human rights occur every day in most parts of the world and violations of rules of war are now widespread.

The 17 goals, like the MDGs before them, have their priorities mixed up.

Unless and until priorities are reversed, there is no hope for the realisation of even some of the 17 goals in the time frame designated for achieving them.