SDGs: It’s long journey worth taking

Sometimes when we start a long journey, it can be hard to see how far we’ve gone. Towns begin to look the same, and the destination seems as far away as it did when you started.

And without charting your progress, finding the motivation to continue is difficult. Our journey towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is the same.

Our destination is far, and many of us are unsure of the progress we’ve made. 

For this reason, Bill and Melinda Gates co-authored the Goalkeepers’ Report that maps out how far we’ve come and how far we have to go.

The report aims to encourage the world to stay the course and accelerate our progress on this long journey.

The report, which will be released every year until 2030, will track 18 SDG indicators, including child and maternal deaths, stunting, access to contraceptives, HIV, malaria, extreme poverty, financial inclusion and water sanitation.

CHILD MORTALITY

The report finds that we have made progress. Since 1990, the proportion of the people living on less than $1.90 has decreased from 35 per cent to nine per cent.

Reduced child mortality rates meant that 100 million children were able to survive. This progress has been largely driven by governments, organisations, institutions and communities.

Less than 20 years ago, my country, Ethiopia, had some of the worst rates of child and maternal mortality in the world.

In 2003, the government launched the health extension programme to give people access to health information and services. Some 40,000 health extension workers were trained to provide basic, preventative health services in rural areas. Within eight years, child mortality was halved.

While Ethiopia had success in reducing child mortality, maternal health was not improving.

SKILLED MIDWIVES

This was largely due to women choosing to give birth at home where they did not have access to skilled midwives. The government had learnt, through its health extension programme that women were more likely to seek care at a health facility, if they had received health information from people in their own community.

This sparked the idea of a Women’s Development Army – an army of three million volunteers who talk to women about health issues over coffee, at a church or mosque. This personal, community-led dialogue broke down the barriers that made women wary about going to health facilities to give birth.

As a result, the number of those giving birth in health facilities has increased from 20 to 70 per cent.

HEALTH DATA

Other countries are having similar success stories. Tanzania has launched an ambitious health data initiative to strengthen oversight.

This innovation has helped Tanzania to achieve immunisation rates of more than 90 per cent. Considering 1.5 million children around the world will die from diseases that we can prevent with vaccines next year, this means more children will see their fifth birthday.

But the report also found that we are at a critical point in our journey towards the SDGs. Our progress is in jeopardy, putting millions of lives at risk.

Uncertainty hangs over foreign aid budgets in many countries. In May, the United States announced a possible cut of $19 billion to its diplomatic and aid budgets.

Programmes on HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria are expected to feel these cuts the most, threatening a serious setback.

FIGHT AIDS

Take HIV as an example. It wasn’t that long ago that funerals for Aids-related deaths occurred regularly. Through initiatives like the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, more people can access services to reduce new infections and keep existing ones at bay.

These initiatives are saving millions of lives, with 800,000 fewer people dying each year from Aids-related illnesses.

But this success is at risk; an additional 5.6 million people could die if funding for HIV treatment is cut by just 10 per cent.

The SDGs aren’t numbers for a future destination; they are a reflection of the world we live in. They represent a mother in Ethiopia ,who can celebrate the birth of a healthy baby.

MEDICATION

The boy in Nigeria who can dream about playing football for his country because he didn’t die from a preventable disease. The HIV-positive parents who know that thanks to medication, their children won’t get infected.

The road to the SDGs is long, and it can be hard to see the progress we’ve made. But we are making progress, and with leadership, commitment and innovation, it is possible to give millions a better life. Isn’t that a journey worth taking?

 Mr Tadesse is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation deputy director of Africa and representative to Ethiopia and the African Union. twitter.com/hdtadesse