How did COVID-19 impact national progress to achieve the SDGs in your country? Select one or more SDGs to highlight a practical example. by UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Tourism in the Caribbean, Richard AMENYAH

2023-04-02 21:49:24 UTC

Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner for most Caribbean countries. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted social and economic life due to lockdowns and stoppage in international air and sea travels. This has led to enormous shrinking in their economies in GDP terms. Majority of the countries are now recovering the loss in their market shares through tourism.

Eric Verschueren Bénin-Togo

2023-04-11 11:02:00 UTC

Plutôt un exemple positif de Togo:
Au Togo, la pandémie de Covid-19 a représenté un défi inédit, non seulement sanitaire mais aussi socio-économique. Elle a montré la nécessité de renforcer la protection sociale et la résilience des acteurs économiques et des ménages face aux chocs exogènes. La crise a servi de laboratoire pour l’innovation socio-économique et digitale avec la mise en place d’un revenu universel de solidarité pour aider les citoyens privés d’activités génératrices de revenu par le confinement. La plateforme numérique Novissi a permis d’octroyer une aide financière de 13,3 milliards de F CFA (20,2 millions d’euros) à 820 000 personnes à travers un système de transfert monétaire direct, sans jamais les rencontrer. Cette action, combinée à d’autres mesures de soutien économiques financées par l’État, a permis au Togo d’échapper à une récession que beaucoup jugeaient inévitable. L’économie togolaise a ainsi enregistré une croissance positive de 1,8 % en 2020, et a crû de 5,3 % en 2021.

Argentina, a country committed to the 2030 agenda, experiences an increase in poverty. Alberto A Stella

2023-04-13 15:24:36 UTC

Argentina is a country highly committed to the 2030 agenda. However, the consequences of the pandemic have deepened the economic crisis and the ability to recover. Today it is estimated that more than 38% of the population is below the poverty line, with great geographical differences, with the poorest provinces in the northern regions of the country being the most affected.

2023-04-14 21:24:42 UTC

Guatemala just submitted its national voluntary review of the SDGs implementation (NVR 2023). Areas with most progress include poverty reduction, social protection, food and nutritional security and access to health services. The launch of the Great National Crusade for Nutrition is an illustrative example as it effectively combating malnutrition in vulnerable children.Areas with least progress include employment and investment, institutional strengthening, security and justice.

Impact of COVID-19 on SDG agenda progress- Martin Odiit UCO Tanzania

2023-04-17 07:33:33 UTC

Tanzania, like the rest of the world, experienced slow down in its progress towards national development goals and the SDGs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include reports of slowed economic growth due particularly to impacts on tourism and hospitality sector and reduced agricultural trade. There were also reports of increased gender based violence.

YOW - COVID-19 impact on SDG

2023-04-18 12:50:23 UTC

COVID-19 has slowed down the effort to reduce poverty (SDG 1) in Chad. As the social protection system weak and not well structured and due to restriction in place during the pandemic many people working in the informal sector were not able to operate for their daily meal. Many daily workers lose their jobs or their incomes.

The health (SDG 3) sector was also impacted by the loss of the health workforce due to the pandemic. The movement restriction has hampered the access and the utilization of health services such Maternal and child health, reproductive health service, TB, and HIV services

Impact of COVID19 on Malawi

2023-04-24 10:59:42 UTC

The impact of COVID19 cuts across a wide range of SDG Goals and particularly on SDGs1, 2, 3 4 and 5 without any order of priority.
In this submission I will focus on SDG4. The closure of schools as a result of measures to curtail the further spread resulted in interruption of education. In Malawi this requires proving alternate or virtual learning modalities such as online . Although this was laudable, the cost of internet, online learning tools and equipment were not affordable by many especially in the rural areas with limited access to internet and electricity. There were reported cases of increased child marriage, and teenage pregnancies.

Lord Dartey, South Sudan.

2023-04-25 23:26:00 UTC

South Sudan’s economy is heavily reliant on oil revenue. Pre-covid, the economy of South Sudan had recorded a strong growth pickup, with real GDP growth estimated at 9.3 percent in FY2019/20 but a contraction of -3.4 percent was projected in FY2020/21. Oil production was estimated at 62.1 million barrels in FY2019/20, representing a 26.5 percent increase from 49.1 million barrels realized in FY2018/19. However, oil production declined to about 58 million barrels in FY20/21, as COVID-19 restrictions impacted movement of machinery and OPEC+ production cuts affected production. With COVID-19 restrictions delaying new investment, activity in the oil sector is not expected to improve until FY2022/23 when oil production is projected to rise to 60.2 million barrels.

Roza Babayan, Armenia

2023-04-26 19:19:13 UTC

In Armenia, the first reported
COVID-19 case was registered on 1 March 2020 and local transmission has been registered since 11 March 2020. Every region (marz) of Armenia has been affected, and the country holds one of the highest positions in the region for infected persons per 100,000 people.
The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis; it has created unprecedented global socio-economic challenges. While the long-term impact remains uncertain, it is clear that it will exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and threaten the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The overall trend in Armenia’s economic development before the COVID-19 pandemic has been
positive, with a high economic growth rate, a steady increase in exports, decreasing unemployment and increasing GDP per capita in most marzes.The immediate social impact of the COVID-19 crisis is assessed for important dimensions of social life, namely health, education, income and social capital.
The spread of the coronavirus and correlated economic hardships impacted the health of people living in Armenia more than the actual impact on people suffering from COVID-19.
The findings from the household survey suggest that 40% of respondents experienced mental and/or emotional health issues after COVID-19 began to spread.
While the capacities of the health care system in Armenia were strengthened during the pandemic, the need exists to consider expanding decentralization and other factors to make health services agile and accessible for everyone during crises.
PLHIV encountered problems with getting their medications. Those living outside Yerevan experienced problems with accessing treatment in Yerevan due to restrictions of movement set by the lockdown. To prevent health complications relevant NGOs ensured that these individuals living throughout Armenia received their medications.

Marc SABA - Mali

2023-04-28 20:45:57 UTC

The levers of economic growth in Mali have been strongly affected by COVID-19. The brakes brought to global economic activity and international trade were directly felt by Malian households, who saw their situation deteriorate. The health crisis has thus caused an increase in the number of poor people by nearly 900,000 people, hampering the progress made over the last decade in terms of poverty reduction.
The fall in economic activity and the slowdown in international trade have mechanically reduced tax revenues. The financing of the emergency response plan against COVID-19 (2.3% of GDP) widened the budget deficit which stood at 5.5% of GDP in 2020. Public debt increased to reach 44.1% of GDP.

Michel - Mozambique

2023-05-01 09:32:55 UTC

The UN and its partners in Mozambique are working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 17 ambitious and interconnected goals that address the key development challenges faced by people in Mozambique and around the world. For example, the UN engagement in post-cyclones support and recovery are unique achievements in delivering on the 2030 Agenda, linking humanitarian response, recovery and resilience in a single effort

Hector Sucilla-Ghana

2023-05-01 22:48:57 UTC

Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the progress in the SDG agenda in Ghana in many areas.Some examples are indicated - below:
- Proportion of expenditure on education and social protection reduced between 2019 and 2020 while that for health increased mainly due to COVID-19 related expenditure.
- Skilled birth coverage improved from 55.5% in 2016 to 59.1% in 2019but declined to 58.7% in 2020.
- Net enrolment ratio (NER) in education generally declined at all levels indicating that some school going age pupils are still not in school. COVID-19 pandemic partly contributed to the drop in the NER in the last two years -the largest drop was at the KG level from 71.4%to 49.5%.

Zambia , Tharcisse Barihuta

2023-05-02 10:09:53 UTC

The COVID 19 has impacted negatively many SDGS . Zambia economy is based on agriculture and Mining . Looking at Economic Growth , the inflation rate moved from 10% in 2019 to 40% in 2021 and GDP reduced from 4% in 2018 to -2% in 2021. The SDGs 3 and 4 have been also impacted . with the close of school during COVID 19 , drop out school particularly for girls has increased , Teenage pregnancy increased reaching 40% in some provinces. The new government has increased investment in Education since 2022 by making Education free for all in primary and secondary school to ensure all children to access to Education . More than 30,000 new teachers have been recruited . The allocation to health has also increased by 25% in 2023 Budget to mitigate impact of COVID 19.

COVID-19

2023-05-13 12:05:33 UTC

Like everywhere in the world, COVID-19 had a significant impact on the lives of PLHIV and key populations, who already faced serious challenges in accessing health services (as well as education and employment, etc.) due to stigma, discrimination, and social exclusion. Restricted movement under COVID-19 further disrupted critical services for these populations but also led to creative efforts to respond to the situation (e.g. virtual platforms and helplines). Pakistan was also noted by WHO for having managed the COVID-19 response relatively well through a national coordination mechanism (National Command and Operation Center/NCOC) that now serves as an inspiration and example that could be followed to effectively tackle other infectious diseases including HIV.

Negative economic consequences of COVID-19 have been amplified by political instability and other governance challenges are major obstacles in achieving most SDGs in both countries (e.g. SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17).

Impact of COVID on SDGs - Brazil

2023-05-15 18:51:16 UTC

COVID had a devasting blow on the economy in Brazil leading to a recession and adding to this, multiple crises that were converging from years prior. The election of right wing president Jair Bolsonaro and the negative impact of this administration on human rights, the promotion of sustainable development and the former president's belief that COVID was nothing more than a cold. Aging health systems, rising unemployment, cuts to social policies and other inequalities further exacerbated the impact of COVID on the development of Brazil. Recession that began in 2014 along with the changes by the former president, left a country ill-equipped to confront the COVID pandemic and further set the country behind in achieving the SDGs. A recently published study on food insecurity among Transgender people during COVID showed 68.8% of the population experienced some type of food insecurity, of which 20.2% experienced a severe food insecurity. (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284257). For the Transgender population, on the most vulnerable and populations left behind, many lost their ability to work and survive, and some had to return to their family home putting them at risk of violence and discrimination during COVID. Many became homeless.

India - David

2023-05-22 10:12:25 UTC

The COVID-19 pandemic had adverse impact on the marginalised segments of the population, who were already battling poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, and many other challenges. One example that I saw in the country I was then posted in – Papua New Guinea - and also have read about here in India is around the increased level of violence towards women and children. So this impacted on progress towards SDG 5. The impact of severe lockdowns in many parts of the country meant people were locked into one room – their routines were severely disrupted. Tensions within family units fueled escalated and opportunities to provide space in order for these tensions to cool were fewer.

Lui- Philippines

2023-05-24 03:41:31 UTC

COVID pandemic negatively affected SDG 4. In the Philippines, the Government closed schools on 9 March 2020 one month before the planned end of term, prematurely ending the school year for almost 25 million students and postponed the usual start of the 2020-2021 academic year from June to the end of August due to concerns about COVID-19. As cases are increasing, coursework will remain by distance only. At the end of the recently concluded campaign for the upcoming school year, enrolment stands at 77 per cent of the previous academic year, highlighting the serious negative impact of the pandemic on students. COVID-19 is also affecting the Alternative Learning System (ALS), which is the Government programme to respond to the needs of those who are unable to continue in formal education through alternative, flexible learning pathways. This programme typically combines self-paced study with in-person instruction by teachers in Community Learning Centres. Currently, it provides over 800,000 learners annually with a vital second chance and alternative pathway to complete their basic education.

Impact of COVID-19, Morocco

2023-06-14 21:15:43 UTC

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on poverty and inequality in Morocco. The pandemic has led to a decline in economic activity, which has resulted in job losses and a decrease in household incomes. This has disproportionately affected the poor and vulnerable, who are more likely to be employed in informal sectors and to have less access to social safety nets.

The pandemic has also exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in Morocco. For example, women are more likely to be employed in informal sectors and to have lower incomes than men. They are also more likely to be responsible for unpaid care work, which has increased during the pandemic. This has made it more difficult for women to find work and to earn an income.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a negative impact on education in Morocco. Schools have been closed for extended periods of time, which has disrupted learning and made it more difficult for children from poor families to continue their education.

The Moroccan government has taken some measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on poverty and inequality. These measures include providing financial assistance to the poor, increasing access to social services, and supporting the education sector. However, more needs to be done to address the long-term impact of the pandemic on poverty and inequality in Morocco.

The following SDGs are relevant to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty and inequality in Morocco:

SDG 1: No poverty
SDG 2: Zero hunger
SDG 3: Good health and well-being
SDG 4: Quality education
SDG 5: Gender equality
SDG 10: Reduced inequality

The Moroccan government is committed to achieving these SDGs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult to achieve these goals. The government will need to continue to invest in social protection, education, and health care to ensure that everyone in Morocco has the opportunity to live a prosperous and healthy life.

Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia

2023-06-27 03:19:13 UTC

The COVID 19 health crisis has highlighted a wide range of structural gaps, poverty and inequality that hinder the development of the Andean countries and limit and hinder inclusive growth.
Several SDGs were very much affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was a severe disrupt of essential health services derailing hard-won progress on SDG 3. HIV prevention, testing and treatment programs were interrupted and most of its resources mobilized to attend COVID-19. The care and treatment cascades suffered great impact, with almost no HIV diagnostic services available and therefore reduction on timely ARV treatment initiation.
The data availble have also illustrated a worsening situation on gender based violence and the confinement increased the risk for certain population groups: Femicides and complaints of violence against women, children or dependents increased, as did racism and xenophobia against migrants. (SDG 5 and 10).
The urgent need to reactivate economies in the face of unsustainable compulsory quarantines has led to de-confinement before the peak of the curve, with no guarantee of adequate biosecurity protocols for workers. Many companies have had to close and there have been massive layoffs, mainly in sectors such as commerce, hotels, restaurants, tourism and entertainment - sectors that generate most of the jobs in the region. On the other hand, low productivity and high levels of unofficial work, which were already two of the main problems characterising the Andean region’s labour markets, are worsened by the recession and economic crisis, increasing the possibilities of further undermining the already damaged workers’ rights in the face of rising unemployment and precarious employment. (SDG 8)
Although social assistance programs have been implemented in several countries during their confinements, they have often been late, insufficient, overly targeted and diminished due to corruption. Official workers have seen their incomes reduced and the informal sector has suffered from hunger and despair as they have been unable to return to their daily work.
Online work and education posed another challenge for the population, which lacks the material resources - such as computers or internet connections - as well as the knowledge to carry out their work and schooling, which increases the social divide.
In a region marked by inequality, the arrival of COVID-19 had further highlighted the lack of equity in access to healthcare and basic services. On the one hand, it shows that there are enormous territorial inequalities in Andean America, where capital cities and some regions have more and better resources and infrastructure to contain the pandemic and provide care for the sick, while rural areas do not have equipment or materials to meet the basic needs of the population during the health crisis. (SDG 10).
The pandemic has also brutally proven that the home is not a safe place for millions of women and girls. Violence against women, which already showed alarmingly high figures in the region, has only been exacerbated when women and girls have been forced to live with their aggressors without access to care and protection services. The pandemic has also highlighted, in an unprecedented way, the importance of caregivers and the low visibility that they have. The unjust social organisation of care is made evident since it is women who, whether paid or unpaid, do most of these tasks.

Fardad UCD Iran: at least SDGs 1, 3, 4 and 10 were severely affected.

2023-07-30 10:11:01 UTC

Alankar Malviya

2024-03-14 10:37:52 UTC

Covid had following impact -

Diverted country's resources and in many cases HIV services were curtailed as an result of this.

The preventive measures like lockdown caused a man made recession , lowering government revenues and thus it capacity to invest in human capital.

supply chain for essential items was severely hampered and lastly

long terms effect of COVID are still getting discovered causing morbidity.