Involving diverse stakeholders: partnering for change

Ensuring people’s participation: governance issues for meeting sustainability challenges

Applying science and technology for sustainable development

Energy the underlying MDG

Health and sanitation: a crucial determinant?

Agricultural threats: coping and adaptation strategies

Involving diverse stakeholders: partnering for change

Accomplishment of the goals laid down by the world leaders would be a near impossibility if the world were to continue on the business-as-usual path. Partnerships amongst diverse stakeholders thus remain a key to attaining the MDGs. Partnerships assumed a new dimension at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, as a key to deliver implementation that was beyond the reach of any single actor. Have these partnerships delivered or has the initial euphoria about them died needs to be seen.

Ensuring people’s participation: governance issues for meeting sustainability challenges

Investing in good governance is crucial for attaining the MDGs. Facets of good governance – transparency, rationality, accountability, and people’s participation – remain imperative for meeting the sustainability challenges. At the international level, ensuring regional co-operation, and furthering technical, financial, and organizational support further remains an important step in accomplishing the MDGs.

Applying science and technology for sustainable development

Effective harnessing of existing and emerging technologies can increase the likelihood of achieving the MDGs. Access to new and emerging technologies requires technology transfer, technical cooperation, and building scientific and technological capacity to participate in development, adapting these technologies to local conditions, and innovating at the government and enterprise levels. Further policies and strategies at the national level are needed to address development challenges and encourage the creation and development of productive enterprises. It also requires a sound governance mechanism that strikes a balance between the global public goods nature of knowledge, the private goods nature of its application, and the need for developing countries to overcome the knowledge divide.

Energy the underlying MDG

Though energy services are a ‘missing MDG’, it is critical for meeting all the other goals. Energy affects practically all aspects of social and economic development, including livelihoods, water, agriculture, population, health, education, and gender-related issues. Energy is thus central across all the MDGs.

At Johannesburg, several global partnership submissions for sustainable energy were registered. Most of these aimed at ensuring access to modern energy services by the poor via support to action plans for energy in development frameworks; capacity development to expand the number and capabilities of rural enterprises; exchange of information related to improved delivery of energy services; and monitoring of progress on the impact of energy services on sustainable development. How far have these partnerships and similar others fared in terms of meeting the goals remains to be explored. How has energy played a crucial role in attainment of the broader development objectives would be deliberated upon in this session.

Health and sanitation: a crucial determinant?

The goal of water and sanitation intrinsically links up with many other MDGs and particularly has strong links with poverty, hunger, health, and environmental sustainability. 1.1 billion people worldwide currently lack access to safe drinking water and 2.4 billion do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. Coverage of sanitation remains low in the investment priority in most developing countries and this, in turn, has overwhelming impact on health and human well-being. Well-targeted investments at providing services to the poor and unserved can help meet the MDGs for water and sanitation. At the WSSD, several partnerships were launched. Have these partnerships addressed this crucial issue and is there adequate support for strengthening public sector institutions, involving community to seek solutions to this crucial issue?

Agricultural threats: coping and adaptation strategies

The demand for food worldwide has increased significantly over the past 50 years. Although the availability has kept up with demand in many regions, there is new and stronger evidence of various possible threats to agriculture in the future. Poverty and hunger link up with environmental sustainability, as agriculture is increasingly exposed to threats of climate and other uncertainties. Agriculture will have to contend with decreasing water availability, increasing threat of climate change and alongside meet the increasing demand for food. In this context, it is imperative to identify issues and opportunities that enhance the coping capacities of communities particularly agriculture in dealing with current climatic variability and other threats. The interlinkages among hunger, poverty, demand for food, and evolving coping options in agriculture will have to be understood.

[top]