FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENTSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – With Reference to India

CONTENT What Is Financing for Development? Millennium Development Goals Sustainable Development Goals Ways to achieve SDGs Reference to India

WHAT IS FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT?

Financing for development ultimately is money that comes from you and me and billions of others who in turn entrust it to others who invest it and deploy it. In the end, we are all stakeholders in the finance for development agenda.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS) In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from

extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. In September 2010, the world recommitted itself to accelerate progress towards these goals.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration

ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MDGS The Millennium Development Goals were established in

the year 2000 and include eight anti-poverty targets to be accomplished by 2015. Since then, enormous progress has been made towards achieving the MDGs:

Global poverty continues to decline More children than ever are attending primary school Child deaths have dropped dramatically Access to safe drinking water has been greatly expanded Targeted investments in fighting malaria, AIDS and

tuberculosis have saved millions

INDIA AND THE MDGS

WHAT’S NEXT?•The Millennium Development Goals  show that targets work. They have helped end poverty for some, but not all.•In September 2015, United Nations Member States adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as part a new sustainable development agenda that must finish the job and leave no one behind. 

A NEW VISION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In 2000, world leaders set eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at ending poverty and hunger, improving education, gender, and health, and promoting sustainable development. With the MDGs set to expire at the end of 2015, a new post-2015 development agenda is being designed. Today’s global realities and development challenges require that the proposed agenda be more ambitious and interconnected than its predecessor, with a more comprehensive vision of development embracing economic, social and environmental dimensions.

The proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encourage every country to end poverty and enhance social and economic development in a sustainable manner. These goals will not be achieved with a business-as-usual approach.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

   WHERE IS THE FUNDING GOING TO COME FROM TO ACHIEVE THESE 17 GOALS?

There are three sources of finance for the SDGs:

Domestic in-country resources Traditional aid Private finance 

WAYS TO ACHIEVE SDGS Domestic Resource Mobilization - Domestic Resource Mobilization

(D.R.M.) refers to the generation of savings from domestic resources and their allocation to economically and socially productive investments. Such resource allocation can come from both the public and private sectors. The public sector does this through taxation and other forms of public revenue generation

Reducing Illicit Financial Flows - Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another. GFI classifies this movement as an illicit flow when the funds are illegally earned, transferred, and/or utilized.

Official Development Assistance - DAC defines ODA as “those flows to countries and territories on the DAC List of ODA Recipients and to multilateral institutions which are provided by official agencies, including state and local governments, or by their executive agencies; and each transaction of which:

a)  is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective; andb)  is concessional in character and conveys a grant element of at least 25 per cent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 per cent).”

WAYS TO ACHIEVE SDGS Improving the Investment Climate - The investment climate for private

business is critically important. Public - Private Partnership - A public private partnership is a

government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies.

The Potential of Institutional Investors in Development Increasing Private Philanthropy in Development

WHAT ARE THE AREAS WHERE INDIA CAN MAKE THE MOST PROGRESS IN HELP ACHIEVING THE SDGS? 

India has made significant progress in achieving some of the MDG targets, particularly in education and health, aided by clear, quantifiable targets and regular monitoring of progress.

The SDGs present the Government of India with an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to providing quality primary health care to all. What we have seen is that this requires setting robust national and sub-national level plans while targeting the most vulnerable. Investments must be made to develop strong, resilient primary healthcare systems which have the requisite infrastructure and are fully functional. I believe that India has the political commitment and intellect to draw robust plans and adapt measures that will aid in closing the gap on preventable deaths, which disproportionately affect the poorest. 

CHALLENGES FOR INDIA IN ATTAINING SDGS Defining Indicators: Past record indicates that we have been

not very successful in setting relevant indicators to measure outcomes. Quality education has not successfully been defined. India’s myopic definition of “safe” drinking water (with hand pumps and tube wells considered as safe as piped water supply) means that official data suggests 86% of Indians have access to safe drinking water and, as a result, we are “on track” for the MDG goal on drinking water. However, the number of waterborne diseases and deaths due to diarrhoea clearly indicate, this is not the case.

Financing SDGs: A new study estimates that implementing SDGs in India by 2030 will cost around US$14.4 billion. Given the recent cut in social sector schemes by the Union government, unless states devote a significant portion of their resources on the social sector, there is likely to be a significant funding gap. High growth and redistribution itself are also not enough. According to theUnited Nations MDG 2014 report, despite high economic growth, in 2010, one-third of the world’s 1.2 billion extreme poor lived in India alone. Given these constraints, it is likely that domestic revenues aside, private finance could be a crucial source for financing the SDGs.

CHALLENGES FOR INDIA IN ATTAINING SDGS Monitoring and Ownership: Relatedly, a third

significant challenge is going to be with respect to ownership. Reports suggest that NITI Aayog will play a significant role in tracking progress. However, members at the Aayog have expressed reservations on being able to take on this mammoth task. Moreover, if states are expected to play a pivotal role (giving the devolution post 14th Finance Commission), it will require ownership not just nationally, but also at the state and local level. 

Measuring Progress: Lastly but most importantly is the question of measuring progress or achievement. By the government’s own admission, non-availability of data (particularly in respect to sub-national levels), periodicity issues and incomplete coverage of administrative data, made accurate measuring progress of even MDGs virtually impossible.

CONCLUSION These 4 challenges aside, it is important to

remember, that while SDGs provide broad goals and targets, it will be up to the national, and state governments to identify priorities, decide appropriate locally relevant policies, harness innovation and ensure that an implementation and monitoring plan is in place. Only then we will have any chance in ensuring that the ‘S’ in SDGs, also stand for successful.