Collaboration for the SDG’s

(MainsGS2:Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.)

Context:

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge setback to the global quest for sustainable development as in 2020, for the first time since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015, the global average SDG score declined.

Increased vulnerability:

The socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic on low-income countries, and particularly on their most vulnerable populations (such as migrant workers and women), were far more profound because they did not have the fiscal space to finance emergency response measures nor economic recovery plans.
Further, the war between Russia and Ukraine is not only causing suffering in terms of deaths and displacement, but is also disrupting global supply chains, in turn resulting in economic disruption.
The prices of food, energy, and other essential commodities have soared and the world could face mass hunger and famines as blockades of grain exports have exacerbated hunger in some of the most vulnerable countries in the world.

Need collaboration:

Amidst the challenges that compound the complexities of the global development agenda, it has become amply clear that no country can achieve the SDGs on their own.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) also outlined a set of principles to guide the reorientation of states’ development cooperation policies for a successful implementation of the SDGs:

Development cooperation should support national efforts and specifically focus on the most vulnerable and marginalised groups such as women.
All forms of development cooperation such as capacity building, financial resources, technical collaboration, and policy advice must be scaled up.
Development cooperation should help leverage domestic resources and build local capacity.
Development cooperation partners must adopt a holistic approach to create coherent policies as opposed to competing policies across sectors.
Local authorities and citizens should be engaged in the monitoring and implementation of the SDGs.

Need development cooperation:

The Indian model of development cooperation serves as an example of cooperation for the implementation of the SDGs as it has advantages over the current approaches of other donors, whether Western states or those in the Global South.
India embarked on its first development cooperation programme shortly after its independence, with the founding principles being anti-colonialism, ‘third world’ solidarity, and sharing of development experience.
India’s development cooperation programme received little attention from other countries because it was also one of the largest recipients of foreign aid till the 1980s.
Over time, India and other southern donors diminished the dominance of the OECD-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) donors and many of these traditional donors are now working with India in third countries.
While India and other southern donors have provided an alternative paradigm to development cooperation, however, they cannot be defined under a single umbrella akin to the OECD-DAC as their approaches remain varied.

Low cost efforts:

A crucial advantage of India’s development cooperation architecture is its nimble character and its ability to provide low-cost development solutions to the partner countries.
While India is often dismissed as a small-scale donor relative to the OECD countries, it is important to note that the bulk of Western aid is often consumed by administrative expenses, consultancy fees, and contracts for the donor countries themselves.
India has become more adept in providing development solutions to other developing countries at a fraction of the cost that Western countries incur, for various reasons.

Conclusion:

Given how the country has played an important role in shifting the narrative and architecture of development cooperation, India should assume greater initiative in the implementation of the SDGs in the coming years.