Former president Thabo Mbeki says developing countries have to find ways to ensure the sustainable development goals (SDGs), designed to end poverty, hunger, Aids and discrimination against women and girls, are met by the 2030 deadline.
After the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) assessment two months ago that only 15% of the SDGs have been achieved, Mbeki believes the Global South should lead in finding answers on what should be done to achieve these goals.
In his opening remarks to the Cape Town Conservation conference on Friday, Mbeki said while the millennium development goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000 and the SDGs adopted in 2015 were meant to address the challenge of globalisation from a point of view of the Global South with a commitment to the developing world that “nobody will be left behind”, they were way behind schedule.
“Halfway through the period, up to 2030, and a dismal report that only 15% of the targets have been achieved, it will require annual expenditure of between US$3-trillion and US$4-trillion (R56.37-trillion and R75.16-trillion) between now and 2030 to realise the SDGs,” he said, citing the UNGA assessment.
“I think that again gives a challenge to the Global South on what must we do. I believe that once again the Global South will have to get together, to answer the question what should be done to achieve Agenda 2030 (the SDGs).”
The conference, in its first year, was organised by the Indian-based Observer Research Foundation and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation to offer “a unique platform for dialogue and co-operation among the countries of the Global South”.
Mbeki said the conference had brought participants together this weekend “to make a contribution to the very necessary and continuing effort of the Global South to advance its interests globally”.
While the UNGA adopted the famous declaration on the establishment of the new international economic order to indicate the extent of the victory scored by the Global South in May 1974, due to the absence of the multipolarity to that effect, this commitment had come to nought and a new international economic order had vanished, he said.
But the declaration was so important that in January, representatives of 25 countries met in Havana, Cuba, and among other resolutions issued a call to renovate the vision for a new international economic order fit for the 21st century and to enshrine this vision in a new UN declaration on the occasion of its 50th anniversary next year.
“It’s a major task of the Global South,” said Mbeki.
The Cape Town Conversation initiative should therefore serve as a platform to engage relevant opportunities and challenges and to foster dialogue among Global South countries on how to navigate the changing world order and advance common developmental interests.
“The conversation must provide a space for reflection, learning, action and where we can share our experiences, perspectives and best practices; where we can identify our common challenges and opportunities, where we can explore our potential areas of co-operation and collaboration and where we can articulate our vision and strategy for the future of the Global South and the world,” he said.
Together we share a common vision of a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive world where the voices and aspirations of the Global South are heard and respected.
— Thabo Mbeki
Mbeki said the co-hosting of the event by the two foundations was a testament to the strong and enduring partnership between South Africa and India dating back many years and enriched by many centuries of cultural, economic and political interactions.
“Together we share a common vision of a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive world where the voices and aspirations of the Global South are heard and respected.”
The gathering was taking place at a critical moment in the history of the world when the world was witnessing a renewed drive for the multipolar world order and genuine multilateral co-operation based on the human charter, Mbeki said.
“As we all know, there are others who are used to a unipolar order and their exercise of uncontested hegemony. It is therefore self-evident that there will be a contest between the two tendencies, striving for the multipolar world order on one hand and the impulse to maintain a unipolar order.
“Necessarily, this means there will be instability in the world and the prevalent sense of uncertainty about the future concerning all the areas of human activity.”
Speakers at the three-day event included minister of public enterprises Pravin Gordhan, former finance minister Tito Mboweni, Richard Stewart, chief regional officer for Africa at Sibanye-Stillwater, international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor and former Liberian president Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson.
The event ended on Sunday.
