A progress report on UN Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs shows that Bangladesh is lagging behind many countries, including other nations in South Asia.
Bangladesh was ranked 120 out of 157 countries in the SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2017 by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Overall performance on the index was 56.2, which is noticeably lower than the regional average score of 63.3. Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka all scored higher than Bangladesh on the index, while Pakistan and Afghanistan scored lower.
Bangladesh has a ‘red’ threshold on 10 of the 17 SDGs, which indicates that major challenges must be conquered in order to meet the goals.
Red rating were received by Bangladesh on the SDG2 – zero hunger, SDG3 – good health and well-being, SDG4 – quality education, SDG7 – affordable and clean energy, SDG8 – decent work and economic growth, SDG9 – industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG11 – sustainable cities and communities, SDG14 – life below water, SDG16 – peace, justice and strong institutions and SDG 17 – partnership for the goals.
Bangladesh scored lowest on SDG9 and SDG11.
On the remaining seven SDGs, Bangladesh received a yellow rating, indicating there is significant work to be done to attain those goals.
The UN refers to the SDGs as a ‘universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity’.
The SDGs, which are build on the UN’s previous Millennium Development Goals, seek to address issues of economic growth, education, health, social protection and climate change.
The SDGs were adopted by world leaders in September 2016 and it came into effect in January 2016.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq
