Civil societies find 'shift away' from UN sustainable goals amidst Covid-19

By Our Representative
The global civil society platform, Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE), releasing the results of its global survey on the implementation of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) has raised the alarm SDGs have further gone “off-track” and are under “further threat amidst Covid-19.”
The survey has found that, amidst Covid-19, 25% of the CSOs said there is shift in priorities away from SDGs in their respective countries; 28.1% found there is decline in budgets for SDGs; 28.1% said there are delays/cancellation of SDG-related actions; 15.6% said there is less transparency in government actions; and 15.6% said there is less space for civil society.
Carried out for the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2020, the UN platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 of SDGs, the survey says that major factors hindering civil society participation in SDG processes include lack of resources devoted towards civil society participation (87.1% of CSOs); lack of information regarding SDG implementation (64.5%); and bureaucratic challenges/red tape in CSO participation (58.1%).
Complaining of “pro-corporate bias” of governments, the survey found “low level of trust in government on the part of CSOs, and low level of technical capacity among CSOs”, adding, in 25 or the 32 countries, government budget allocations is not aligned with SDG priorities; there is low awareness regarding SDGs among implementers at the national level (24 countries); there is low awareness regarding SDGs among implementers at the local level (22 countries); and inadequate consultation/engagement of CSOs in SDG processes (24 countries).

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