The Sultanate of Oman is among six Arab countries that lead the regional scores in progressing towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a key report has revealed.
The report, titled ‘Arab Region SDG Index 2022’, published by the World Government Summit Organisation in partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, said there were big differences in the progress that Arab countries are making towards achieving the UN SDGs.
Leading the regional scores, with a total index score of 66 or more, are Jordan, Tunisia, the UAE, Algeria and Morocco besides the Sultanate of Oman. As a whole, the Arab region scored in terms of achieving the sustainable development goals with an average of 58.2 out of 100 and it is clear they face a challenge in making much greater effort and cooperation across the region to achieve the SDGs during the next eight years.
The report, which adopted additional indicators for the region and expanded the research in quantity and quality, revealed that only three countries managed to achieve one of the 17 goals, highlighting the need for the Arab countries to unite and take fast steps to avoid falling behind the global deadline for achieving the goals by 2030.
The report measures the progress made in the sustainable development goals and highlights the gaps in the country’s implementation and data. The index includes about 111 sub-indicators covering the 17 sustainable development goals. As the Global Sustainable Development Report 2021, presents an SDG Goals Index and dashboards for all UN Member States, the Arab Region Index presents 29 additional sub-indicators that reflect regional priorities and challenges. The selection of these indicators was based on consultations with regional experts.
The variation between the 22 Arab countries reflects big differences in performance in many social and economic indicators. The report identified key weaknesses in Arab countries’ SDG results so far, most notably in SDG 5 (gender equality), which is described as the most important challenge across the region, followed by the goals of SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth).
Challenges also remain in SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). Other SDGs show more variation, which in turn requires country-specific policy recommendations and solutions to bring fast solutions to overcome the challenges. (With inputs from WAM)