LAGGING ‘SDGs’ PROGRESS AMID OVERLAPPING CRISES

 02 January 2026 / current concerns 2-030

 

LAGGING ‘SDGs’ PROGRESS AMID OVERLAPPING CRISES

 

 

by Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje, FAHOA

 

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INTRODUCTION

With less than five years to go until the 2030 deadline, the world stands at a critical juncture in its pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted in 2015 as a universal roadmap to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, the SDGs represent humanity’s most ambitious development compact. Yet, according to the latest United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025, progress remains woefully insufficient. Only about 35 per cent of SDG targets with available data are on track or showing moderate progress — leaving a majority slow-moving, stagnant, or in regression. This sobering reality reflects a confluence of overlapping crises — from intensifying climate shocks and protracted conflicts to geopolitical tensions and weakened financing flows — that have collectively eroded development gains and strained the global community’s capacity to deliver on the 2030 Agenda.

 

A DEVELOPMENT EMERGENCY

At its heart, the SDG framework is an integrated blueprint: poverty reduction is intertwined with education, health, gender equality, climate action, and economic inclusion. When one pillar falters, others are compromised. Today, nearly half of the SDG targets are advancing too slowly to meet their 2030 benchmarks, and 18 per cent have worsened compared with 2015 baseline levels — a stark indicator that progress is not just slow, but in some cases reversing. Climate change — now a defining feature of the 21st century — presents one of the most formidable barriers to SDG attainment. Extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and shifting rainfall patterns are undermining food systems, escalating water scarcity, heightening health risks, and displacing vulnerable populations.

 

These climate shocks disproportionately affect low-income regions, particularly in Africa, compounding structural vulnerabilities and jeopardizing advances in poverty reduction, food security, and health. Conflict, too, has inflicted devastating setbacks. Prolonged insecurity in several regions has disrupted schooling, decimated infrastructure, triggered mass displacement, and diverted scarce resources to military expenditure rather than social development. The ripple effects of instability extend far beyond immediate humanitarian crises, impeding long-term investments needed to achieve SDGs such as peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16), quality education (SDG 4), and decent work and economic growth (SDG 8).

 

FINANCING GAPS AND GLOBAL INEQUITIES

Perhaps most troubling is the widening chasm between development ambitions and the financing available to realize them. Persistent debt burdens in many developing economies, coupled with declining official development assistance (ODA) and constrained fiscal space, have strained public investment in essential services. In 2024, ODA contracted by over 7 per cent after years of relative growth — a trend projected to continue through 2025 — just as needs expanded. These financing shortfalls come at a time when innovative and scalable investments are urgently required to accelerate progress. Yet, without predictable, equitable, and large-scale resource flows, the capacity of nations to build resilient health systems, expand social protection, and invest in climate adaptation remains limited.

 

UNEVEN AND FRAGILE GAINS

It is important to recognize that progress, where it exists, has been real and substantial in certain dimensions. Millions more people have gained access to electricity, improved sanitation, and digital connectivity; maternal and child mortality have declined in many countries; and social protection coverage has expanded globally. However, these advances are fragile and unevenly distributed. Persistent inequities — in income, gender, and opportunity — continue to lock millions out of sustainable development pathways. The stark reality is that progress in one region can mask stagnation or regression in others, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected states.

 

AGENDA 2030 (UN SDGS) AND AGENDA 2063 (AFRICAN UNION)

Agenda 2030 (UN SDGs) and Agenda 2063 (African Union) are complementary global and continental blueprints for sustainable development, with Agenda 2030 focusing globally on social, economic, and environmental goals (People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, Partnerships), while Agenda 2063 offers a broader African vision for prosperity, integration, and governance, aligning closely with the SDGs but adding unique African priorities like cultural identity and political transformation, meaning Africa achieves SDGs through implementing its own Agenda 2063.

 

TOWARDS TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION

As we approach the final phase of the 2030 Agenda, it is clear that current trajectories are insufficient. We are confronted with a development emergency that demands bold, coordinated, and transformative action. This includes prioritizing equitable climate finance, strengthening multilateral cooperation, protecting civic space, promoting inclusive economic policies, and harnessing technology to catalyse sustainable solutions. The SDGs are not abstract ambitions; they are essential for the dignity, well-being, and prospects of current and future generations. Ultimately, the success of the 2030 Agenda depends on our collective willingness to redouble commitments, share responsibilities equitably, and pursue systems-level changes that leave no one behind.

 

 

Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje is a well experienced Global Health and Development Projects Consultant with over a decade of providing retainership, advisory services, and technical leadership to governments, donors, NGOs, and civil society platforms across Africa and beyond. A health economist, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) expert, researcher, trainer, and facilitator, he possesses strong expertise in programme design, policy analysis, and results-based management, and has very successfully delivered several health and development projects/programmes. His work spans climate change, energy transition, environmental and biodiversity sustainability, universal health coverage (UHC), and health and community systems strengthening, promoting evidence-based and scalable development solutions. Dr. Adirieje has served as Technical Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and as a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s National Steering Committee on the Alternate School Programme. He is CEO and Programmes Director of Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA), President of African Network of Civil Society Organizations (ANCSO), Chairperson of the Global Civil Society Consortium on Climate Change (GCSCCC), and holds multiple leadership roles in national and global civil society platforms. A prolific writer and conference organizer, he is a respected policy advocate and development leader, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s M&E and SDG implementation frameworks.