“The cost-of-living crisis is hitting hard, and inequalities are growing...I am more determined than ever to make 2023 a year for peace, a year for action. We can’t accept things as they are. We owe it to people to find solutions, to fight back and to act.”
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres at his end-of-year press conference, 19 December 2022
2023 is upon us – a pivotal year marking the mid-point in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The year’s first edition takes a close look at Goal 1 (no poverty) while highlighting some key moments in the lead-up to the SDG Summit in September.
Historic Declines in Poverty
The past several decades has seen a major progress in reducing extreme poverty – defined as living on less than $1.25 a day.
In 2000, United Nations Member States adopted a set of eight time-bound goals for combating poverty, hunger, diseases, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), covering the period from 1990 to 2015. One of the main goals was to halve the proportion of people whose income was less than $1.25 a day. More than 1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990, when nearly half of the population in the developing regions lived under that threshold. This rate dropped to 14 per cent in 2015. The target of reducing extreme poverty rates by half was indeed met five years ahead of the 2015 deadline.
In 2015, Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs – the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all – covering the 15-year period from 2016 to 2030. The 2030 Agenda seeks to eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030. The global poverty rate kept falling from 10.1 per cent in 2015 to 8.3 per cent in 2019, giving much hope for the arrival of a world free from poverty.
COVID-19, Conflict and Cost-of-living Crises
However, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts punctuated this historic run of declines in the global poverty rate, pushing it up to 9.2 per cent in 2020 – the first increase since 1998 and the largest one since 1990.
This unprecedented reversal is being further exacerbated by rising inflation and the impacts of the war in Ukraine. It is estimated that these combined crises will lead to an additional 75–95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared with pre-pandemic projections.
At his end-of-year press conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “The cost-of-living crisis is hitting hard, and inequalities are growing – affecting the world’s women and girls the most.”
He went on to note that most of the world’s poorest countries find themselves on ‘debt row’ – staring down the abyss of insolvency and default. In 2022 alone, their debt service payments skyrocketed 35 per cent – the largest increase in decades. “The poor are getting poorer,” he warned.
Key UN Reports
Two important UN reports will be released in January. See how SDGs, including Goal 1, fared in them.
- World Social Report
The 2023 edition of the UN World Social Report will show that the population ageing – and policies implemented in response – can be harnessed to uphold the 2030 Agenda’s promise to leave no one behind. The report will highlight ways to address today’s inequalities for the benefit of tomorrow’s generations by capitalizing opportunities that an ageing society brings. The report’s Chapter 4 explores the interlinkages between ageing and poverty.
Stay tuned for the report’s launch at a press briefing on 12 January, 12:30 p.m. EDT, taking place at UNHQ in the UN Press Briefing Room or live on http://webtv.un.org.
- World Economic Situation and Prospects Report
The world continues to confront multiple, inter-connected crises. Amid a slow recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is facing a food and energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, with record high inflation unleashing a cost-of-living crisis. The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 will underscore the imperative of supportive and accommodative fiscal measures to lift growth and accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
A global launch will take place in New York on 25 January 2023, and regional launches will follow across the globe. For more information, visit https://www.bit.ly/wespreport
Migration
Also coming up is the 3rd International Forum on Migration Statistics. Migrants make a positive contribution to the economic development in their countries of destination. They also support their families in their countries of origin through remittances. Data on international migration is key to support evidence-based policies and implement the 2030 Agenda, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and other global agreements. The Forum, taking place in Santiago, Chile, from 24 to 26 January, aims to fill existing migration data gaps and to better inform policy making.
Key links
- Forum website: http://bit.do/IFMS_2023
- Programme: http://bit.do/IFMS_2023_programme
- Follow live and on demand: https://www.youtube.com/UNStats
- Media Accreditation: https://indico.un.org/event/1002008/registrations/8584/
Pivotal Year for SDGs
For the SDGs at mid-point, 2023 is indeed a crucial and eventful year, with major conferences and high-level meetings leading up to the SDG Summit in September. These key moments offer golden opportunities to take stock of what have been achieved and find ways to finish the business by 2030. Here are some highlights in 2023.
The world’s least developed countries are in a race against time to deliver the SDGs by 2030. The remaining years need to usher in a new global partnership to ensure these 46 countries benefit from social, economic and environmental development. Eradicating poverty in these poorest countries is key to achieving Goal 1. The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), to be held from 5 to 9 March in Doha, Qatar, is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to accelerate sustainable development in the places where international assistance is needed the most and tap the full potential of the least developed countries helping them make progress on the road to prosperity.
For more information, visit the Conference website: https://www.un.org/ldc5/
Billions of people worldwide still live without safely managed drinking water and sanitation, even though access to both services has long been defined as a human right. Water and poverty are closely linked. Without water, there is no development, and without development, it is impossible to eradicate poverty from the Earth. The UN 2023 Water Conference is expected to adopt the Water Action Agenda as a main outcome representing voluntary commitments of countries and stakeholders to meet the global water-related goals and targets. The Conference will open on 22 March marking the World Water Day 2023.
For more information, visit the Conference website: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023
A World Water Day campaign will also be launched on 10 January by UN-Water and will run until World Water Day (March 22) and the opening day of the UN 2023 Water Conference. Get inspired by the story of a hummingbird that fetched a few drops of water from a stream to put out a forest fire while all the other animals watched in disbelief. To cynical bystanders, she said: “I am doing what I can.” The 2023 campaign website will go live here.
Water Science Policy, with support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is also running a photo story competition on the topic of ‘Water, Partnerships, and Cooperation’. The top 15 stories will also be exhibited at the UN 2023 Water Conference. You are invited to take part! https://bit.ly/3Wl1hCq
Stay tuned for the release of the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023, which will give the global community a reality check on the devastating impacts of multiple crises affecting people’s lives and livelihoods. This annual report is based on data from over 200 countries and territories and is prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the entire UN statistical system, consisting of more than 50 international and regional agencies.
The High-level Political Forum is the central United Nations platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs at the global level. The Forum will be held from 10 to 19 July 2023, under the theme “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels”. The Forum will take a deep dive on Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation), Goal 7 (affordable and clean energy), Goal 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), Goal 11 (sustainable cities), and Goal 17 (partnerships).
For more information, visit the Forum website: https://hlpf.un.org/2023
The second Global Sustainable Development Report written by an independent group of scientists is slated for release in September 2023. The report will be launched as the world reaches the half-way point of the 2030 Agenda and struggles to rebuild in the aftermath or amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023 SDG Summit will be convened on 19-20 September 2023 at UN Headquarters in New York during the General Assembly high-level week. Heads of State and Government will review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Goals. They will respond to the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world and provide high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to the target year of 2030 for achieving the SDGs. World leaders are expected to adopt a Political Declaration as an outcome.
For more information, visit the Summit website: https://www.un.org/en/conferences/SDGSummit2023
Alongside the SDG Summit, the Secretary-General will convene the Climate Ambition Summit, with a call on every leader from Governments, business, cities and regions, civil society and finance to step up. “The invitation is open,” the UN chief said, adding that there is a price of entry, which is non-negotiable: credible, serious and new climate action and nature-based solutions that will move the needle forward and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis must be presented. “It will be a no-nonsense summit. No exceptions. No compromises,” he declared.