SDGs summit 2024 targets bold and innovative solutions

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana is set to spearhead a crucial high-level stakeholder discussion aimed at reigniting commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and catalyzing bold, innovative actions necessary to keep the SDGs on track across Africa.
The SDGs Action Summit 2024, scheduled for July 2-3 in Accra, serves as a preparatory meeting for the UN Summit of the Future. The Summit, themed ‘From Mid-point to Success – Recommitting, Scaling Up and Accelerating Action on the SDGs,’ will focus on accelerating efforts to achieve these global objectives.
Dr. Eugene Owusu, Special Advisor to the President of Ghana on the SDGs, has issued a stark warning that without accelerated and coordinated efforts, the continent risks missing critical SDG targets.
He revealed that at the midpoint of the SDGs implementation timeline, recent progress reports show that only 4 percent of the goals are on track to be achieved by Africa by 2030.
Dr. Owusu outlined the multifaceted challenges hindering progress, including climate change, ongoing conflicts, lingering effects of COVID-19, policy failures, and a skewed global governance structure. These issues collectively pose a significant threat to the continent’s progress in achieving the SDGs. “The slow progress on many of the goals and targets leaves the fate of millions of Africans and the fate of the planet in dire straits,” Dr. Owusu stated.
Referencing a 2022 joint report by the African Union Commission, the UN Development Programme, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Owusu noted that without quicker progress, at least 492 million people in Africa will remain in extreme poverty by 2030.
These challenges, he said, are exacerbating poverty, fueling instability, widening inequalities, and sharply contributing to the deteriorating health of the planet.
Despite these grim realities, Dr. Owusu emphasized resilience and innovation as crucial tools for scaling up efforts to achieve the SDGs. “We continue to have abundant opportunities in the Sustainable Development Goals to address these challenges, foster inclusive and sustainable development across our continent, and give our world a fair chance of achieving global peace and stability, engender prosperity for all, and save our planet,” he asserted.
Highlighting the high costs of failure, including economic stagnation, increased inequality, and environmental degradation, Dr. Owusu stressed the importance of accelerated action. “The urgency of action on the SDGs cannot be overstated,” he said. “We have the resources, the know-how, and the capacity necessary to achieve the goals. With the opportunities that the SDGs present, we must be at our boldest, be creative and innovative, and leverage smart solutions to drive success.”
The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. The SDGs Action Summit 2024 aims to turbocharge actions and build a consensus on delivering outcomes necessary to achieve these vital goals.