Goal 17: Partnership
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize global partnership
In 2022, official development assistance amounted to 0.37 percent of donor countries’ gross national income, well below the target of 0.7 percent.
SDG 17 focuses on mobilizing funding and other resources to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. To help close the funding gap, UNDP has pledged to promote US$1 trillion of public expenditure and private capital investment in the SDGs by 2025.
Overall, progress towards achieving Goal 17 has been mixed. Development assistance reached record levels in 2022, but this primarily was driven by aid to Ukraine and support for refugees within donor countries. As a percentage of gross national income, total development assistance was 0.37 percent, well below the target of 0.7 percent.
At the same time that they are seeking to mobilize resources for the SDGs, many developing countries are facing a debt crisis. The total external debt of low- and middle-income countries reached $9 trillion in 2021.
2022
more than half
(37 out of 69) of the world’s poorest countries were in debt distress or at high risk of it.
Tackling the debt crisis will be critical to achieving Goal 17 and the SDGs as a whole. A UNDP report found that the costs of servicing external debt, is crowding out investment in the SDGs and other national priorities. As a result, 165 million people in low- and middle-income countries fell into poverty between 2020 and 2023. Until the multilateral system can address debt restructuring, UNDP is calling for a “debt-poverty pause” so that debt servicing payments can be redirected towards impactful social spending.
A stimulus for the SDGs
With just seven years to go until the SDG deadline, the United Nations is calling for revolutionary financial and industrial transformation to meet the Goals and close the widening gaps between rich and poor.
It is called the SDG Stimulus Plan.
Photo credits
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UN Photo/Isaac Billy
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UNDP Afghanistan/Rob Few
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UNDP Haiti/Pierre Michel Jean
