THE Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a universal appeal to end poverty, safeguard the environment, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030 (UNDP, n.d.). Also known as the Global Goals, the SDGs were adopted in 2015 by 193 United Nations member states at the UN Sustainable Development Summit, New York.
The year 2023 marks the midway point of the SDG agenda, with countries urged to achieve at least half of the progress required to accomplish the goals (Escap, 2023). While some considerable progress has been made toward the Global Goals, a preliminary assessment conducted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) on 140 SDG targets showed that only about 12 percent of SDG targets are on track, while the rest are either moderately or severely off track compared with the 2015 baseline (UN DESA, 2023). As a result, current trends indicate that 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty by 2030 (UN DESA, 2023). It is also predicted that 84 million children will be out of school by 2030.
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