18 Challenges of MDG and 16 Positive Scopes of SDG

MDG had eight international development goals which were to be achieved by 2015. These goals were related to poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, communicable disease, education, gender inequality, environmental damage and global partnership. Though MDG actions helped nations to grow and flourish on these indicators, the expected level of progress could not be attained in all the indicators in all the countries. Different levels of analysis and study found that there were multiple factors that hindered the full progress of MDG.

18 Challenges in achieving MDG were:

Lack of synergy among the goals
Global economic crisis
Lack of interconnectivity between the goals
Less consideration to environmental and economic dimensions
Narrowed focus to equity issues. Example: gender focus was only explicitly mentioned in MDG 3 and 5 while missing on other goals
Limited understanding about the holistic concept of MDG among public health professionals
Lack of full ownership and leadership
Lack of transparency in the use of MDG resources
Lack of enabling environment
Limited funding for gender equality and women rights
Lack of policy space for poorer countries
Political instability
Existing gaps between the poorest and the richest; rural and the urban areas
Compromised focus on climate change and environmental degradation
Conflicts and disputes within and among the countries
Lack of access to basic health services
Although not explicitly explained, goals of MDG were mainly centered on the issues of underdeveloped and developing countries
Less goals focused for developed nations

On the other hand, SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) are bold universal agreements to end poverty in all its dimensions and craft an equal, just and secure world. It has 17 goals and 169 targets and was accepted by 193-member states at the UN General Assembly Summit on September 2015.

Six essential elements for delivering the SDGs and their underlying goals:

For more information about SDG, please refer to https://publichealthnotes.com/need-know-sustainable-development-goals-sdg/.

Detailed analysis of the positive aspects of SDG are given below:

16 Positive aspects of SDG:

It meets the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges of the world
Global and international issues addressed more comprehensively
SDG’s are universal where all the countries are equally involved in the implementation i.e. proper inclusion of both developing and developed nations
All 17 goals are interconnected with each other which creates huge possibility of synergistic effect towards achieving the goals
Issues of climate change, natural resources, gender equality, peace and inclusiveness are evenly prioritized
Provides reaffirmation to the international commitment of ending poverty
Comprehensive vision and framework which includes issues that affect all
Focus on empowering of women and girls
Priorities to inclusiveness and environmental sustainability
Multidimensionality of SDG where development is seen as a system rather than enhancement in individual conditions
Broad and ambitious nature of all goals and their targets
High level of data disaggregation. This will help to understand the local, national, regional and international status quo of different aspects in more detail
Inclusive and participatory goals
Distinguishes hunger from poverty
Enclosure of peace building and governance related goals
SDG also focuses on generating local resources for funding the goals