Sustainable Development Goals are indivisible

“Rain has become my enemy. When it rains, my heart sinks,” says Jane, an entrepreneur who runs a village grocery shop in the Isingiro District of Western Uganda. Many forests in the area have been turned into farms, which fail to retain water during heavy downpours. The resulting floods damage homes, crops and businesses, including Jane’s. They also lead to nutrient runoff from soil, which contribute to water pollution. According to the village head, water from wetlands is no longer clean for human or livestock consumption.

Water is life: With water in the downstream ecosystems such as wetlands polluted, this upstream water source that flows all year round is becoming more and more precious. With the wide utilization of chemical fertilizer, however, upstream water source also runs the risk of deteriorating quality. Photo by Victor Tsang/ UN Envrionment

As my week-long field trip in April 2018 concluded, it is more apparent than ever that land degradation is taking a toll on the East African nation. Subsequent to the growing demand for food and fuel, forests have been turned into farmlands, trees cut down for household firewood consumption and the growing industry of charcoal production, and wetlands encroached upon for construction or other purposes. At the backdrop is climate change, which leads to more unpredictability of weather patterns – prolonging the country’s dry seasons and bringing more intense downpours during the rainy seasons. The results are impacting livelihoods, leading to increased poverty and food insecurity, interruption of school attendance, deteriorated health including among those living with HIV/AIDS, as well as increased time on unpaid care work for women such as fetching water and firewood.

In another community, in the Kamwenge District of Western Uganda, I sat down with 26 women – ranging from teenagers to the elderly – to discuss the impacts of flood, drought and intense heat on their lives. When posed a question on domestic violence, the women burst into laughter, as if a sense of levity could alleviate their sufferings. They said that domestic violence is common in Uganda, and that it happens more often during the dry seasons, when men want to sell the crops that the women grow. In most cases, the men beat their wives when they want to gain control of their wives’ crops. In some cases, however, women also beat their husbands.

Win-win: Community members can earn an income by removing and selling the foreign species of eucalyptus while conserving wetland ecosystem. Photo by Victor Tsang/ UN Envrionment

The intricate linkages among the Sustainable Development Goals are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for an integrated approach and breaking the silos. In the case of Uganda, land degradation (Goal 15) and climate change (13) are bringing negative impacts on poverty (1), food security (2), health (3), education (4), gender relations (5), and availability of clean water (6) and firewood (7). The story does not end here. In the context of environmental changes, villagers, especially men, go to cities (11) for jobs and income (8). After all, why are trees cut down and natural resources degraded? It is primarily driven by human consumption (12), especially those in cities. 

This summer in New York City, United States, policy makers are going to gather at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to conduct an in-depth review of some of these Sustainable Development Goals, including Goals 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 15 (life on land). In preparation for this, UN Environment, UN-Habitat and UN Women joined hands and organized an expert group meeting for gender from 5-6 June in Nairobi, Kenya. In the green and pretty United Nations office complex, where one can see monkeys running around, experts across sectors traveled from around the world to discuss how to strengthen gender equality considerations for the five goals to be reviewed. A list of recommendations has been submitted to the Forum participants.

In the two-day meeting, participants discussed the problems and solutions in advancing gender equality under the five goals. They also attempted to break the silos and create synergies among the goals. One suggestion I proposed was to identify Sustainable Development Goal catalysts -interventions that will advance gender equality and achieve multiple benefits for the five goals. One such catalyst could be to invest in public toilets in urban spaces; it will contribute to Goals 5, 6 and 11 concurrently. However, given the time limit, participants were not able to discuss this idea to much depth.

Figure 1: A diagram on the idea of SDG catalysts. One such catalyst could be to invest in public toilets in urban spaces.

The need to create synergies within the same sustainable development goal to bridge the social-environment nexus was highlighted. For instance, under goal 6 (clean water and sanitation), there is a tendency that experts with a background in water, sanitation and hygiene to focus on issues with water pumps and toilets, while professionals from an environment background may emphasize issues with water ecosystems. Under Goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities), most experts tend to look at urban planning and equitable access to urban resources, while environment professionals tend to focus on issues with air pollution and solid waste. To bridge such knowledge gap, it is necessary to create opportunities for social and environmental scientists to dialogue.

Indivisibility of SDGs: The 26 women in the focus group discussion seem to understand perfectly the indivisibility of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of the 2030 Agenda, a message for policy makers. Photo by Victor Tsang/ UN Envrionment

Back to the Kamwenge District in Western Uganda, before closing the focus group discussion with the 26 women, when asked if they were willing to participate in wetland restoration activities led by Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment, supported by UN Environment and to be funded by the Global Environment Facility, the answer was an overwhelming “yes”, with a caveat though. Economic incentives or income generating opportunities are necessary. They said, “If we spend the whole day outside and are not able to hand in some cash to our husbands, we will be beaten up!” For the women in Uganda, they seem to understand perfectly the indivisibility of the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - a message for the policy makers going to the High Level Political Forum.