Goal 17 is about revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda is universal and calls for action by all countries – developed and developing – to ensure no one is left behind. It requires partnerships between governments, the private sector, and civil society. The Sustainable Development Goals can only be realized with a strong commitment to global partnership and cooperation.
Significant challenges remain. Official development assistance (ODA) has not reached the targeted level; private investment flows are not well aligned with sustainable development; there continues to be a significant digital divide; and there are on-going trade tensions. To be successful, everyone will need to mobilize both existing and additional resources and developed countries will need to fulfill their official development assistance commitments.
- In 2021, net ODA flows amounted to $177.6 billion, an increase of 3.3 per cent in real terms from 2020, representing 0.33 per cent of donors’ combined gross national income (GNI). Despite hitting a new peak, it still fell short of the 0.7 per cent target.
- In 2021, 150 countries and territories reported implementing a national statistical plan, up from 132 in 2020.
- ODA for data and statistics amounted to $650 million in 2020, a slight decline from $662 million in 2019. The overall trend in funding for this sector has remained stagnant at 0.3 per cent of total ODA.
- Total external debt stocks of low- and middle-income countries rose by 5.3 per cent in 2020 to $8.7 trillion, driven by an increase in long-term debt, which rose by 6 per cent to $6.3 trillion.
- In low-income countries, the total public and publicly guaranteed debt service to export ratio rose from 3.1 per cent in 2011 to 8.8 per cent in 2020.
- The number of Internet users surged by 782 million to reach 4.9 billion people in 2021, or 63 per cent of the global population.
- Fixed broadband subscriptions continue to grow steadily, reaching a global average of 17 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2021. In least developed countries, fixed broadband remains a privilege of the few, with only 1.4 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
- Global foreign direct investment flows rebounded strongly in 2021, reaching $1.58 trillion, up 64 per cent from 2020.
- Foreign direct investment flows in developing economies increased by 30 per cent, to nearly $837 billion. Flows in least developed countries saw a more modest growth of 13 per cent.
- International investment in SDG-related sectors in developing countries increased by 70 per cent in 2021. Most of the growth came from renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects.
- The share of total SDG investment that went to least developed countries decreased from 19 per cent in 2020 to 15 per cent in 2021.
- In 2021, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached $605 billion, up 8.6 per cent from 2020. The cost of sending money across international borders continued to remain high, at 6.0 per cent, double the 3 per cent target.
- Remittance flows are projected to increase by 4.2 per cent to reach $630 billion in 2022, less than half the growth seen in 2021.
Finance
17.1 Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection
17.2 Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries
17.3 Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources
17.4 Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress
17.5 Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries
Technology
17.6 Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
17.7 Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed
17.8 Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology
Capacity building
17.9 Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation
Trade
17.10 Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda
17.11 Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020
17.12 Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access
Systemic issues
Policy and institutional coherence
17.13 Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence
17.14 Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
17.15 Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development
Multi-stakeholder partnerships
17.16 Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
Data, monitoring and accountability
17.18 By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts
17.19 By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries
UN partners on sustainable development
United Nations Development Programme
UN Department of Economic & Social Affairs
Food & Agriculture Organization
International Fund for Agricultural Development
International Labour Organization
International Telecommunications Union
Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS
UN Conference on Trade and Development
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UN Industrial Development Organization
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
World Meteorological Organization
UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace
Regional Commissions
Regional Commissions New York Office
Economic Commission for Africa
Economic Commission for Europe
Economic Commission for Latin America & the Carribean
COVID-19 response
No country can overcome this pandemic alone. Global solidarity is not only a moral imperative, it is in everyone’s interests.
The UN Secretary-General issued a series of policy briefs that lay out a vision for how the international community can deliver an effective, coordinated response to COVID-19, ensuring we keep the most vulnerable populations front and centre. The policy briefs bring together analysis from across the UN system and provide Member States with concrete ideas for how to address the consequences and even seize opportunities in the midst of the crisis.
A high-level event convened by Canada, Jamaica and the United Nations on 28 May brought together governments and international organizations to sharpen and accelerate our global response to the significant economic and human impacts of COVID-19, and advance concrete solutions to the development emergency.
Most developing countries do not have sufficient domestic resources and fiscal space to fund adequate COVID-19 response and recovery measures. International cooperation and external finance are crucial.
Particularly alarming is the prospect of a new debt crisis, compounded by tumbling prices for oil and other key commodities, heavily impacting Least Developed Countries that were already at high risk of debt distress. The UN is calling for Special Drawing Rights, targeted debt relief and an extension of the debt moratorium to all developing countries.
The 2020 Financing for Sustainable Development Report outlines measures to address the impact of the unfolding global recession and financial turmoil, especially in the world’s poorest countries, based on joint research and analysis by more than 60 UN agencies and international institutions.
To support efforts in low- and middle-income countries, the UN Secretary-General launched a UN Response and Recovery Trust Fund.
In addition, the UN set out a Global Humanitarian Response Plan to assist the most vulnerable populations, including refugees and internally displaced persons.
And the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Foundation and partners launched a first-of-its-kind Solidarity Response Fund to allow corporations and individuals to directly contribute to WHO’s COVID-19 response.
To address issues of open and timely access to critical data needed by governments and all sectors of society to respond to the global COVID-19 crisis, this UN portal provides a space for the global statistical community to share guidance, actions, tools and best practices to ensure the operational continuity of data programmes by National Statistical Offices.
To combat the growing scourge of COVID-19 misinformation, the UN launched Verified, an initiative to increase the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information on three themes: science (to save lives), solidarity (to promote local and global cooperation), and solutions (to advocate for support to impacted populations).
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