Do We Need a Moonshot for The SDGs?

One year has passed since world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a pledge to eliminate poverty, hunger, and 15 other global goals by 2030.  In the latter half of the 20^th century, a similarly ambitious vision galvanized our ingenuity, finance, and scientific community to the common endeavor of putting a man on the moon.  Today, do we need a similar moon-shot approach for the SDGs? Progress so far Since the original moonshot announcement by John F. Kennedy in 1961, the developing world has witnessed enormous social and economic progress.  Democracies have taken hold across the globe, poverty levels declined dramatically, and the global economy has become more interconnected.  In terms of living standards, real incomes in developing economies have risen three-fold and poverty has fallen below 10 percent—besting the target set in the Millennium Development Goals (the predecessor to the SDGs).  Advances have been made in health and education with both improved coverage and greater quality.  These gains in well-being and the accompanying technological revolution of recent years led the late Michael Elliot, head of the One Campaign, to refer to this as an “age of miracles.” Trends in Developing Economies and World (a) Developing economies are the 31 low income countries in the World Bank’s classification. (b) Data are for the 129 IDA and IBRD borrowing member countries. Source:  World Development Indicators, 2016 Are we there yet? Still, there is still some distance to cover.  The costs of climate change, persistent poverty affecting some 900 million people, the challenges of fragile and conflict-affected states, along with large infrastructure deficits indicate that we have some way to go. The price tag to address these global challenges is steep.  In developing countries some $2.5 trillion a year in additional spending is needed, many times the estimated $200 billion spent to put man on the moon.  While the unmet needs are sizeable, the amount of official development assistance (ODA) has been largely stagnant since the 1960s. Private investment flows have now eclipsed ODA as a dominant source of funds for developing economies. Foreign Direct Investment and Official Flows to Developing Economies 1960-2013 Source:  World Development Indicators FDI is net flow to World Bank Group borrowing member countries; Official flows are global net flows. Keys to success Achieving the SDGs is more than a financial and technological feat.  Realizing sustainable and equitable change will challenge our ability to organize and collaborate across sectors and with multiple actors --North-South, South-South, and Public-Private-Civil Society.  Given their breadth and scale, there are some basic organizing principles that should guide these efforts to make the SDGs a reality.

• Embrace transparency:  Eliminating poverty and hunger are complex challenges that defy simple solutions.  In order to speed the identification and replication of successful efforts transparent and open access to data should be the default, not the exception. This is especially true regarding data on development projects and programs where governments and donor funds often finance overlapping activities, fail to exploit synergies, or do not learn from their predecessor’s efforts.  All this leads to inefficiency and waste, and, at worst, can distort incentives.

• Focus on results: The SDGs are a yardstick to measure success. These outcomes should guide the actions of governments, donors, and investors alike.  For that to happen, ODA and investment should use monitoring and evaluation criteria that inform policymakers and investors by providing clear, measureable indicators of success.  Published results and evaluations should be used to justify continuing to investment in successful programs, ending ineffective ones, and scaling up pilot programs that are proven.

• Foster collaboration. Achieving the SDGs requires the collaboration of public, private and civil society actors.  A first step will be building the partnerships needed to tap into the trillions of dollars of latent investment and donor resources among pension fund managers, impact investors, remittance flows, private investment, and philanthropy.  These partnerships should be based on co-creation, shared risks and responsibilities, and interdependency so each player has “skin the game.” An organizational transformation is also needed among traditional development institutions to leverage their resources and results using new approaches to deliver goods and services. Successful models to follow include the Advanced Market Commitment and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) – which spurred the development and distribution of life-saving medicines in developing economies.  More businesses will also need to adopt “shared value” approaches that offer positive social and environmental outcomes while contributing to the bottom line. To encourage and recognize leaders in this field, KPMG is proud to sponsor the Share Value award at the 2016 Global Action Platform.

• Encourage innovation. An innovation ecosystem that invests in experimentation and learning is critical.   Examples include the use of challenge funds, like the African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) that pilots, tests, and scales new approaches to address poverty, and create sustainable employment.  Innovations in the financing of development are also essential.  More than ever, equity and other forms of risk capital are needed.  To become risk-takers donors will need to adopt a mindset that recognizes that failure is an expected as part of the process, offering an opportunity to learn and improve the return on future investments.

An Age of Miracles The good news is that across the world, these principles are already being adopted, and are bearing fruit.  Efforts like the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) to open up data from development agencies and the Open Data Charter that encourages greater data sharing by governments can promote increased interaction with business, citizens, and civil society.  Today, public funds and impact investors are financing schools in rural Kenya where children learn from teachers whose curriculum is transmitted by smart phone and tablet at a cost of just pennies a day.  Innovations in the use of SMS texting mean that a pregnant woman in rural Peru receives messages from her doctor and reminders for her medical appointments – improving her baby’s health and reducing time spent in waiting rooms.  In Thailand, villagers collaborate to design “bottom up” strategies to improve educational access for girls and boys.  When these efforts are replicated, and when possible scaled up, these will be the small steps that move humankind ever closer to its common goal of improving lives and reaching the SDGs.   Editor’s Note: The feature was originally published in the 2016 Global Action Report, produced by Diplomatic Courier for the Global Action Platform. To read the full report visit: http://www.mazdigital.com/webreader/42981. Republished here with permission.   About the Author: Martin Chrisney is the Director of KPMG’s International Development Assistance Services Institute where he coordinates the delivery of strategic and technical work on development topics. Martin has worked extensively with governments, multilateral development banks, bilateral agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private sector during his time with the IADB and the World Bank.