Humans of The World Foundation Nepal supports Sustainable Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were scaled-up to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) of September 2014 prepared a solid foundation for the SDGs, which were finally agreed at the UNGA in September 2015. Nepal, as a member state of the United Nations, is fully committed to this global initiative. Nepal has made significant progress in poverty reduction and human development in the last two decades. The percentage of people living below the national poverty line dropped from 38 percent in 2000 to 21.6 percent in 2015. The Human Development Index score improved by one percentage point per year. Nepal aspires to become a middle-income country by 2030.
Nepal started implementing the SDGs in 2016 to achieve the national goals with the aspiration that "No one is left behind while eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity. "

Status of the SDGs

Poverty reduction (SDG 1)

The percentage of people living below the national poverty line dropped from 38 percent in 2000 to 21.6 percent in 2015. And, the proportion of population below the minimum level of dietary consumption dropped from 47 percent in 2000 to 22.8 percent in 2015.

Hunger and nutrition (SDG 2)

Nepal has made good progress on reducing hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition. The proportion of underweight children 6 to 59-month-olds dropped from 43 percent in 2000 to 27 percent in 2016. The prevalence of stunted children dropped from 57 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2016 and prevalence of wasting among under 5-year-olds dropped from 15 percent in 1996 to 10 percent during the same period.

Health and wellbeing (SDG 3)

Significant progress has been made on reducing mortality and improving health. The under-5 mortality rate reduced from 91/1000 live births in 2000 to 39 in 2016 while the infant mortality rate dropped from 64/1000 live births in 2000 to 32 in 2016. The neonatal mortality rate dropped from 38/1000 live birth in 2000 to 21 in 2016. The total fertility rate of women aged 15-49 dropped from 4.1 children in 2000 to 2.3 in 2016. The proportion of pregnant women having antenatal check-ups by a skilled provider increased from 28 percent in 2000 to 84 percent in 2016. The proportion of births in health facilities increased from 9 percent in 2000 to 57 percent in 2016 while the proportion of births attended by a skilled provider increased from 11 percent in 2000 to 58 percent in 2016. This all led to the large drop in the MMR from 850/100,000 live births in 1990 to 258 in 2015.

Gender equality (SDG 5)

Nepal has made impressive progress in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Gender parity is achieved in all levels of education. The ratio of girls to boys in primary education increased from 0.79 in 2000 to 1.09 in 2015. Gender parity was achieved in primary education in gross and net enrolment in 2015. The ratio of girls to boys in secondary education increased from 0.70 in 2000 to 1.0 in 2015. Gender parity was also achieved in secondary education. The ratio of women to men in tertiary education increased many fold from 0.28 women to every man in 2000 to 1.05 in 2015.

Resilient infrastructure and inclusive industrialization (SDG 9)

Nepal has improved its infrastructure. The length of roads reached 82,412 km in 2016 of which 14 percent was black-topped, 23 percent graveled and 63 percent earthen. The road density was 0.44 km/sq2 in 2015/16. And 51.4 percent of people have access to a paved road within 30 minutes’ walk. The construction of railroads has begun. Connectivity by air transport is improving. Nepal has 33 airports in operation and 25 domestic private airlines and 26 international airlines operating flights in and to Nepal. The country’s tourism infrastructure is improving with 1,073 tourist standard hotels. Nepal has greatly improved its information and communication technology infrastructure as the density of telephone users reached 110 percent. In 2016, the share of industry in GDP was 15 percent, and manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP was 6.5 percent.

Means of implementation (SDG 17)

Adequate finance, technology, institutions, capacity and partnership are vital for achieving the SDGs. These components have a synergetic effect. The current availability of resources indicate that there is a large gap to finance the achievement of the SDGs. An SDG needs assessment, costing and financing strategy is underway to articulate financial needs. Nepal also needs technological support including smart technology for small-scale agro-based entrepreneurs and low carbon emission engineering for its industries. Efficient construction technology is needed for building large hydropower projects, new international airports, roads, bridges, apartments and railways. Partnerships are being strengthened with the private sector, cooperatives, civil society, development partners and the international community to meet the large capacity building needs.

Source: National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal.