Bienvenue aux Nations Unies
Prior to Covid-19, the SDGs were gaining traction among African governments as a framework to focus policy on inclusion, equity, economic growth, and sustainability. Some African countries have presented their progress reports on the SDGs in Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). From 2016-2020, the African Group has conducted or planned for 2020 44 VNRs.
Then came the current crisis causing a shift in the focus of policymaking from the SDG long-term agenda to the Covid-19 short term emergency. If short term emergency actions are not appropriated balanced with SDG long-tern agenda, this shift might result in an endless recovery affecting dramatically Africa’s SDG agenda. UN CEPA members strongly believe that keeping and reinforcing the ongoing SDG budgeting reforms is the way to go in terms of managing this tradeoff.
SDG Budgeting a recognized key success factor. After 5 years into SDG implementation efforts, one aspect is becoming quite clear in the African policymaking arena: the achievement of the SDGs requires strong political will to allocate enough budgetary resources towards the sectors contributing to their achievement. The MDGs lessons cannot be forgotten. As shown by MDGs, the inclusion of the SDGs in long-term development plans is not enough. It is crucial, not to say determinant, that the State budget takes the SDGs as their main matrix. SDG budgeting has become instrumental as well as one of the key success factors for effective governance. In fact, in some recent policy briefs, SDG budgeting is clearly linked to SDG financing. African policymakers are realizing that SDG budgeting being a source of transparency, accountability, policy integration, budget coherence, budget performance evaluation, and credibility is emerging as an important piece of development finance.
On the other hand, we all also recognized that SDG budgeting reforms in Africa are in their preliminary stages. The reality still be a de-link between SDG policy frameworks, development planning, and budgeting, which translates in weak transition of SDG policies into strategic budget decisions. As a result, African budgets lack reporting on SDGs’ expenditures and consequently poor accountability over SDG implementation. However, we all also know that national budgets have a crucial role to play in SDG financing. According to UNDP estimates, national budgets can finance the SDGs between 25% and 75% of the total financing needs. If indeed this is the case, SDG planning-budgeting-monitoring-evaluating- reporting is an avoidable matter.
All this rational has pushed for an increased, although slow, adoption, among African countries, of contextualized SDG Budgeting reforms, on a doing-learning approach taking into account that there is no universal methodology. In this context, UN CEPA 11 principles of effective governance and the associated 62 strategies grounded on effectiveness, accountability, and inclusion should be considered, among others, by African policymakers as a good conceptual framework for the implementation of SDG budgeting.
We all have to come together, policymakers, civil society, the private sector, and the UN System, to keep the SDG budgeting reforms as a priority despite Covid-19 disruptions.
Covid-19 and the reset of budget priorities. The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated social and economic crises have delayed, even more, Africa’s chances to achieve the SDGs by 2030 – unless African policymakers spot the root of the challenges, the opportunities of leapfrogging, and respond rapidly with a comprehensive and integrated intervention. The global economy is going through turmoil. Investors moved around US$90 billion out of emerging markets, the largest outflow ever recorded. IMF projected for 2020 a fall of -3 percent in global growth. The current crisis is the worst recession since the great depression and much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
In Africa, for a couple of reasons, the worst of the pandemic is expected later. By that time, the social and economic impact will add to pandemic’s effects on global trade and commodity prices, which are already badly hitting African economies. According to UNECA (2020), the negative economic impact of adopting lockdowns as a containing measure is exacerbating the humanitarian dimension and threatening livelihoods: a slowdown in growth from 3.2 percent to as low as -2.6 percent, 5-29 million pushed into extreme poverty, 19 million jobs lost, vulnerable employment up at least by 10 percent, 17 percent of households affected by Covid-19 face at least transient poverty.
As Africa seizes to address the virus as well as its negative impacts, budget priorities and associated resources have been reset to save lives and livelihoods, which was the correct thing to do. However, Covid-19 response and recovery are absorbing resources and turning attention away from realizing the SDGs. But what African policymaking cannot afford to do, even in these difficult times, is taking resources away from SDG actions. The responses to the current crises as well as the recovery cannot be de-linked from the SDGs. Africa must not lose sight that the deep negative impact of the current crisis reflects the fact that MDGs are unfinished business, particularly those related to human capital: poverty, health and education. The MDGs legacy felt short: 34 African countries spend less than USD 200 per capita annually on health care with very low levels of efficiency and 5 countries spend less than USD 50. Today’s reality is that medical testing equipment, ventilators, medical supplies, sanitation and water are in chronic shortage.
This is the time to recognize how crucial it has become the achievement of SDGs and how instrumental, for this achievement, SDG budgeting is.
Africa’s Covid-19 recovery must be organized around SDG principles: inclusion, growth, equity, and sustainability. Therefore, SDG budgeting is an avoidable matter. A strong Covid call in terms of financial support is out there. A group of African ministers has requested financial support, including a debt relief in the amount of $44 billion. UNECA (2020) has estimated Africa’s financial needs not only to cope with the short term pandemic issues but also with the recovery: i) USD 100 billion African health and social safety net fund, for the most vulnerable; and ii) USD 100 billion for Africa’s economic stimulus. The amounts are huge. The exceptional increase in budget resources to cope with the Covid-19 crises challenges budget transparency, credibility, and accountability as well as budget effectiveness to respond to the social and economic crises. If mobilized resources are not strictly channeled to the most negatively impacted, being people or SMEs, with a balanced view between short term emergency and long term agenda, the humanitarian crisis will be prolonged. Africa faces the current crisis not in good shape. With high debt levels, increasing fiscal deficits, increasing borrowing costs, and depreciating currencies, fiscal discipline has become strategic in addressing successfully the current crises. Facing the possibility of managing an exceptional amount of resources and consequently facing a higher risk of mismanaging these resources, SDG Budgeting is imperative as a mitigant.
This is not the time to abandon the ongoing SDG budgeting reforms. As well said by UNECA (2020), African youth will not forgive the misappropriation of Covid-19 funds.
Cristina Duarte, member of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration