For the first time in more than a decade, there are now approximately 38 million more hungry people in the world – rising from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, a UN report has stated.
According to the report, conflict is now one of the main drivers of food insecurity in 18 countries. In 2017 the world experienced the costliest North Atlantic hurricane season on record, driving global economic losses attributed to the disasters to over $300billion. At the same time, the Report found that more people are living better lives than they were just a decade ago.
A fast-changing climate, conflict, inequality, persistent pockets of poverty and hunger, and rapid urbanisation were identified by the report as challenges impeding countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 found that conflict and climate change were major contributing factors leading to growing numbers of people facing hunger and forced displacement, as well as curtailing progress toward universal access to basic water and sanitation services.
The proportion of the world’s workers living with their families on less than US$1.90 per person a day declined significantly over the past two decades, falling from 26.9 percent in 2000 to 9.2 percent in 2017.
The under-five mortality rate dropped by almost 50 percent, and in the least-developed countries the proportion of population with access to electricity has more than doubled between 2000 and 2016.
However, in 2015 2.3 billion people still lacked even a basic level of sanitation services and 892 million people continued to practice open defecation. In 2016 there were 216 million cases of malaria compared to 210 million cases in 2013, and close to 4 billion people were left without social protection in 2016.
The SDG Report presents an overview of progress toward achieving the Goals, which were unanimously adopted by countries in 2015. In a press statement, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin said: “Transitioning toward more sustainable and resilient societies also requires an integrated approach that recognises these challenges – and their solutions – are interrelated”.
As the global community moves forward to achieve the SDGs and address existing challenges, reliable, timely, accessible and disaggregated data is critically needed. This requires technology and innovation, increased resources and political commitment to build strong data and statistical systems in all countries.