United Nations receives funds to support SDGs acceleration in Ghana

Five years into the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the global achievements of the 2030 agenda and the SDGs had been uneven according to the SDG Report 2020. The gains made can also be derailed due to the impact of the pandemic. Coupled with the financing gap of $2.5 trillion a year, the attainment of the SDGs may be farfetched if stringent measures are not made to enhance resource mobilization and secure the building blocks for transforming the SDGs financing architecture.

Today, the world’s gross domestic product is estimated at over US$85 trillion dollars and global gross financial assets estimated at over US$200 trillion according to the World Bank. Statistics clearly demonstrate availability of capital across the global financing landscape but a seemingly mismatch of public and private capital towards financing the SDGs.

To enhance the SDG Financing ecosystem, ensure gender-and child responsive SDG budgeting, encourage innovative financing strategies for health and for infrastructure, the United Nations in Ghana, under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator’s Office, has secured close to US$1m from the Joint SDG Fund, under the Joint SDG Financing Component One, to support complimentary interventions towards accelerating the attainment of the SDGs in the country.  Projects under this Component are being implemented jointly by UNDP, UNICEF, WHO and UNOPS to stimulate integrated and transformative policy shifts, support the creation of SDGs financing strategies and deepen gender-responsive national budgeting and accountability for the attainment of the SDGs and development priorities in the country.

The 2020-2022 joint project was launched in Accra to unveil to the public, partners and key stakeholders the full package and what it seeks to achieve.

Addressing participants, the UN Resident Coordinator, Charles Abani highlighted that the joint SDG financing project forms part of UN Ghana’s overarching socioeconomic response and recovery plan (SERRP) through which the UN is aligning and repurposing funds in support of government, especially during this period of COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic economic recovery efforts.

“COVID-19 pandemic presents us with many opportunities to reform better. The Joint SDG Fund is one of the keyways and we as the UN are very happy to join efforts with Government to ensure the impact of the pandemic on SDG financing is controlled”, Mr Abani stressed.

The Minister for Planning, Prof George Gyan-Baffour, expressed government’s commitment to implement and achieve the SDGs through the support of the joint financing project. He said though government effort to finance the Agenda 2030 remains a challenge, the sequence and strategies in achieving the ambitious sustainable development agenda remains central and attainable.

He acknowledged the collective effort of the UN agencies, Ministries and Departments to ensure the realization of Ghana’s vision as it would provide concrete, practical and transformational strategies to finance the SDGs.

“Also coupled with appropriate institutional mechanisms and processes [this] would allow the country benefit from the myriad of financing opportunities,” he noted

Other speakers included the Director of World Bank, Pierre Laporte and Head of Cooperation-Germany, Dorothee Dinkelaker.

The first component of the Joint SDGs Financing projects will direct grants between US$0.5m to US$1m for 2 years to each joint proposal. This fund will allow the UN system in creating enabling conditions and capacities for aligning public and private capital to the SDGs and related national strategies as part of efforts to strengthen the SDG Financing Architecture.

The Joint SDGs Fund is an inter-agency pooled mechanism for integrated policy support and strategic financing.