JAKARTA, 12 January 2021: Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chairman, Agung Firman Sampurna, fears five targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme will not be achieved due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Given the current global pressure, some SDGs are in danger of not being reached,” he stated during the International Webinar on Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in Covid-19 Pandemic: a Multi-Stakeholder Approach / Perspective hosted in Jakarta, Monday.
According to the Antara report, he identified five goals that are at risk of falling short. The first goal is to end extreme poverty in all forms, the second is supposed to end hunger, to achieve food security, and improving nutrition, and the third ensures a healthy life and promotes welfare.
Goal 4 ensures quality education that is inclusive and equitable and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all. Goal 10 in the SDGs calls for the end of inequality.
Sampurna stated that all five goals of the SDGs programme were clearly at risk and unachievable since the Covid-19 pandemic had yet to subside after one year. Instead, second waves had hit several countries.
This is apparent from the victim count, which continues to rise globally, reaching over 90.2 million people, with 1.93 million deaths.
In Indonesia alone, until 11 January, 828,026 cases have been reported, with the death toll reaching 24,129. Daily infections peaked at 10,000 people on 8 and 9 January.
“The COVID-19 pandemic throws a huge challenge. No single country is ready to face it and is still struggling to overcome it,” he pointed out.
Moreover, the health crisis has battered the global economy, pushing millions back into poverty, exacerbating inequality, and compelling scores to either remain or return to life in extreme poverty.
“This can be measured by the capacity of families being affected to provide necessities, such as food and education, for their members,” he explained.
Sampurna noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had worsened conditions that earlier experienced four other global disruptions, such as the financial crisis in 2008, the technology crisis or Industry 4.0 in 2009, and the political crisis in 2016.
(Source: Antara News Agency)
