UN deputy chief urges arms spending cuts to save SDGs

When the first group of the Kenya Contingent (KENCON) troops left Goma International Airport today on December 3, 2023, after one year of deployment. [Courtesy EACRF]

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Monday urged global leaders to redirect resources from warfare to peace and sustainable development initiatives.

Speaking on behalf of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Mohammed called for immediate and decisive action to salvage the faltering Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"Conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond are causing a devastating loss of life and diverting political attention and scarce resources from the urgent work of ending poverty and averting climate catastrophe," she said at the ministerial meeting of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.

She emphasized the need to slash military budgets and instead channel funds towards peace and development.

Highlighting the critical state of the SDGs, Mohammed noted that only 17 percent of the targets are on track as the 2030 deadline approaches. "Future generations deserve more than 17 percent of a sustainable future," she emphasized, outlining a four-pronged strategy for urgent acceleration in a bid to meet the 2030 deadline for the goals.

The first step, she stressed, is to establish peace, underscoring that political and financial resources should be redirected from conflicts to development efforts.

She also emphasized the importance of advancing green and digital transition, urging nations to enhance their climate action plans by 2025, aligning them with the 1.5-degree Celsius limit in line with the Paris Agreement and invest in expanding digital connectivity.

Addressing the financial challenges impeding SDG progress, Mohammed pointed out the growing financing gap and destabilizing financial conditions in many developing countries.

She acknowledged ongoing reform of multilateral development banks and the recycling of special drawing rights but called for more robust measures. "We must go further and faster to deliver an SDG Stimulus," she urged, calling for increased lending capacity, expanded access to contingency financing, and comprehensive debt solutions.

Mohammed reiterated the SDGs' promise to "leave no one behind."

She emphasized the need to prioritize vulnerable populations, uphold the rights of persons with disabilities and combat gender inequality.

"Achieving this agenda means placing vulnerable people and groups at the forefront of national development plans, policies and budgets," she said.

During its three-day ministerial segment, the HLPF will hold a general debate on the theme From the SDG Summit to the Summit of the Future.

Ministers and high-level representatives of participating states, as well as intergovernmental organizations, and major groups and other stakeholders will take action to realize the Political Declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.

They will also contribute to the preparations of the Summit of the Future, to be held this September.

Held under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council, the forum will conclude on July 18 with the adoption of a ministerial declaration.