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French journalist Guy Lagache spent the first six months of this year in close proximity to Emmanuel Macron, making a film that ended up focusing on the French president's Putin strategy.

Polish experts fear a recurrence of infections and further lockdowns after several months of relative calm concerning coronavirus infections. The Polish health ministry issues weekly statements and summaries in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of infections in Poland...

Thousands of workers gathered on Wednesday afternoon in Marquês de Pombal, in Lisbon, and set off towards parliament, in a national demonstration for wage and pension increases in the face of escalating inflation. The national demonstration of the Communist-backed CGTP...

Le groupe Visilab n’a pour l’heure pas augmenté ses prix mais dit y réfléchir. Le point avec son nouveau patron, Sébastien Rossini.

By Stefan Shweinfest
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 8 2022 (IPS)

This week marks the mid-way point to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and with it the release of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022.

While we would like to trumpet success stories and report that we are on track in eradicating poverty and hunger and improving health and education in this report, the reality is, we cannot.

Instead, the data show that cascading and intersecting global crises are creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, presenting existential threats to the planet, and have already undone some of the initial accomplishments towards the SDGs.

In fact, the results of the report reflect a deepening and impending climate catastrophe; a war that is sparking one of the largest refugee crises of modern time; shows the impacts of the pandemic through increased child labour, child marriage, and violence against women; as well as food supply disruptions that threaten global food security; and a health pandemic that has interrupted the education of millions of students.

The report sounds an alarm that people and the planet are in serious challenges, rather than reading as the successful story of progress that we would have hoped for when launching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.

The COVID-19 pandemic has halted or reversed years of development progress. As of end of 2021, nearly 15 million people worldwide had died directly or indirectly due to COVID-19. More than four years of progress in alleviating extreme poverty have been wiped out, and 150 million more people facing hunger in 2021 than in 2019.

An estimated 147 million children missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years. The pandemic severely disrupted essential health services. Immunization coverage dropped for the first time in a decade and deaths from tuberculosis and malaria increased.

Stefan Schweinfest

As grim as the scenario sounds, we shall set a course for achieving the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through recovery and response: enact new ways of thinking and open up new possibilities.

During COVID-19, responses sped up the adoption of digital technologies and innovative approaches. There are some examples of positive trends coming out of the report: There has been a surge in the number of internet users due to the pandemic, increasing by 782 million people to reach 4.9 billion people in 2021, up from 4.1 billion in 2019.

Global manufacturing production grew by 7.2 per cent in 2021, surpassing its pre-pandemic level. Higher-technology manufacturing industries fared better than lower-tech industries during the pandemic, and therefore recovered faster.

In addition, before the pandemic, progress was being made in many important SDGs, such as reducing poverty, improving maternal and child health, increasing access to electricity, improving access to water and sanitation, and advancing gender equality.

War in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is creating one of the largest refugee crises we have seen in modern time, which pushed the already record-high global refugee number even higher. As of May 2022, over 100 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

The crisis has caused food, fuel and fertilizer prices to skyrocket, further disrupted supply chains and global trade, roiled financial markets, and threatened global food security and aid flows.

Projected global economic growth for 2022 was cut by 0.9 percentage point, due to the war in Ukraine and potential new waves of the pandemic.

The world’s most vulnerable countries and population groups are disproportionately impacted by the multiple and interlinked crises. Developing countries are battling record inflation, rising interest rates and looming debt burdens.

With competing priorities and limited fiscal space, many are finding it harder than ever to recover economically. In least developed countries, economic growth remains sluggish and the unemployment rate is worsening.

Women have suffered a greater share of job losses combined with increased care work at home. Exiting evidence suggests that violence against women has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Anxiety and depression among adolescents and young people have increased significantly.

Climate Emergency

Low-carbon, resilient and inclusive development pathways will reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, transform our food systems, create better jobs and advance the transition to a greener, more inclusive and just economy.

The world is on the verge of a climate catastrophe where billions of people are already feeling the consequences. Energy-related CO2 emissions for 2021 rose by 6 per cent, reaching their highest level ever and completely wiping out pandemic-related declines.

To avoid the worst effects of climate change, as set out in the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2025 and then decline by 43 per cent by 2030 from 2010 level, falling to net zero by 2050.

Instead, under current voluntary national commitments to climate action, greenhouse gas emissions will rise by nearly 14 per cent by 2030.

A Road Map out of Crises

The road map laid out in establishing the Sustainable Development Goals has always been clear. Just as the impact of crises is compounded when they are linked, so are the solutions.

In taking action to strengthen social protection systems, improve public services and invest in clean energy, we address the root causes of increasing inequality, environmental degradation and climate change.

We have a valuable tool in the release of The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 to understand our current state of affairs. What’s more, in order to understand where we are and where we are headed, significant investment in our data and information infrastructure is required.

Policies, programmes and resources aimed at protecting people during this most challenging time will inevitably fall short without the evidence needed to focus interventions.

Timely, high-quality and disaggregated data can help trigger more targeted responses, anticipate future needs, and hone the design of urgently needed actions. To emerge stronger from the crisis and prepare for unknown challenges ahead, funding statistical development must be a priority for national governments and the international community.

As the SDG Report 2022 underscores the severity and magnitude of the challenges before us, this requires accelerated global-scale action that is committed to and follows the SDG roadmap.

We know the solutions and we have the roadmap to guide us in weathering the storm and coming out stronger and better together.

Stefan Schweinfest is Director of the Statistics Division in the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). Under his leadership, the Division compiles and disseminates global statistical information, develops standards and norms for statistical activities including the integration of geospatial, statistical and other information, and supports countries’ efforts to strengthen their national statistical and geospatial systems.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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President Vladimir Putin said on 7 July that Russia had barely got started in Ukraine and dared the West to try to defeat it on the battlefield, while insisting that Moscow was still open to the idea of peace talks.

Europe’s aviation infrastructure is buckling under the strain of the en masse return to flying this summer, resulting in chaos at airports, all-too-frequent tales of lost luggage, missed connections, and stranded passengers waiting for hours to speak with frazzled staff. Across the...

After years of tense relations with Britain, the EU was Thursday (7 July) seeing hope of improved ties following the resignation of Brexit champion Boris Johnson, though wariness lingered.

Press briefings ahead of Economic and Financial Affairs council meeting will take place on 11 July 2022 at 12.30, followed by a technical Ecofin briefing at 17.00.

The Council and the European Parliament reach a provisional agreement on specific measures to facilitate recognition of Ukrainian driver documents.

The Social Democratic Party is increasing its popularity and narrowing the lead of the liberal-conservative National Coalition Party (NCP), according to a new poll commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) published on Thursday. The National Coalition Party, which held...

The Belgian Embassy in Kyiv will reopen next Monday, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo confirmed on Thursday. The Belgian Embassy in Kyiv will reopen next week (11 July), and Ambassador Peter Van De Velde, whom De Croo met before he...

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović spoke of wishes for his country to join the EU soon, during his first official visit to Vienna on Thursday. Austria actively supports the accession processes for all Western Balkan states. In addition to EU...

The top Russian and US envoys gathered on Friday (8 July) for a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia, with the host immediately telling them the Ukraine war must end and differences be resolved through negotiations.

The parliament will enforce quotas for Bulgarian music on state television and radio airwaves as per changes in the law proposed by the pro-Russian nationalist party ‘Vazrazhdane’ and passed with ten votes in favour and none against. The draft law...

Hospitalisations due to COVID-19 have risen by 33% in the past seven days driving a 36% increase in intensive care ward occupancy, according to the monitoring report by the Gimbe Foundation released on Thursday. A surge in COVID-19 infections is...

Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin urged Boris Johnson, who resigned as UK prime minister on Thursday, to step back from planned unilateral action on the Northern Ireland Protocol before his exit. In a statement following Johnson’s announcement, Martin called for movement...

An investigation is to be launched into the French administration’s over-contracting of consulting firms such as McKinsey and Capgemini for policy inputs, especially in the COVID vaccine roll-out strategy, far-left La France Insoumise MP and Finance Committee chairman Eric Coquerel...

Wladimir Putin hat am Donnerstag in einer Rede gesagt, der bisherige Krieg sei nur Geplänkel gewesen. Nebst martialischen Tönen bewegte er sich aber auch einen Schritt auf die Ukraine zu und erklärte, Friedensgespräche nicht abzulehnen.

Tovább szigoríthatják a bűnözővé váló elutasított menedékkérők kitoloncolását Németországban, az ideiglenes tartózkodási engedéllyel legalább öt éve az országban élő és törvénytisztelő elutasított menedékkérők pedig esélyt kaphatnak a határozatlan időre szóló tartózkodási engedély megszerzésére egy törvénytervezet szerint, amelyet szerdán fogadott el a szövetségi kormány.

Olaf Scholz kancellár szociáldemokrata-zöldpárti-liberális kormányának úgynevezett első migrációs csomagja az előterjesztő szövetségi belügyminiszter, Nancy Faeser szavai szerint az illegális migráció visszaszorítását és a szabályos migráció előmozdítását szolgálja. A törvényhozás elé terjesztett javaslat “megteremti a megfelelő egyensúlyt” – emelte ki a miniszter a kormányülés után tett nyilatkozatában.

Kifejtette: mindenekelőtt “gyorsabban és következetesebben” kell eltávolítani az országból az úgynevezett megtűrt státuszban lévő és a bűnözés útjára lépő vagy közveszélyesnek minősített embereket. Ezért a javasolt jogszabály rendelkezik a többi között az adminisztratív eljárások egyszerűsítéséről és arról is, hogy könnyebben megvonhassák az ideiglenes tartózkodási jogot a bűnözőktől, és elrendelhessék a kitoloncolásig tartó őrizetüket. Így “megakadályozzuk, hogy az ország elhagyására kötelezett bűnözők a kitoloncolás előtt elrejtőzzenek” – idézték a belügyminisztérium közleményében Nancy Fraesert.

Ugyanakkor azok a megtűrt külföldiek – vagyis olyan elutasított menedékkérők, akik valamilyen okból átmenetileg mégis maradhatnak az országban -, akik tisztelik a német törvényeket, esélyt kaphatnak a munkavállalás szabadságát is magában foglaló, teljes körű beilleszkedéshez szükséges állandó tartózkodási jog megszerzésére.

Ez a lehetőség azoknak jár, akik 2022 elején már ötödik éve tartózkodtak Németországban, nem követtek el bűncselekményt, és elkötelezettek a szabadságon alapuló demokratikus berendezkedés mellett. Ők egy évre szóló tartózkodási és munkavállalási engedélyt kaphatnak, ennyi idő alatt kell bizonyítaniuk, hogy képesek közpénzből finanszírozott támogatás nélkül eltartani magukat. A határozatlan idejű tartózkodási engedélyt a próbaidőszak végén kaphatják meg. A tárca adatai szerint tavaly év végén 242 029 megtűrt külföldi élt Németországban, közülük 136 605-en több mint öt éve.

A Scholz-kormány a menekültügyi rendszer mellett a szakképzett munkavállalók bevándorlásának szabályozásában is javasol változtatásokat az első migrációs csomagjában. A tervek között szerepel az úgynevezett harmadik országokból – az EU-n kívülről – érkező szakképzett munkavállalók családegyesítésének megkönnyítése azzal, hogy megszüntetik a német nyelvtudás igazolásának követelményét a munkavállalók családtagjainak esetében.

 

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