Former president Thabo Mbeki has warned that if under-developed countries do not take the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seriously their citizens will continue to suffer for generations to come.
Opening the Cape Town Conservation conference last night, he said that poor nations especially in Africa and Asia have a huge responsibility to speed up efforts to achieve the goals.
Mbeki said: “But only two months ago in September, the UN General Assembly assessed the progress made towards achieving those SDGs halfway through the said period up to 2030. And in that report, it is only 15 percent, one five, of the targets that have been achieved and it will require annual expenditure of between three and four trillion US dollars between now and 2030 to realise the SDGs.”
Former President Mbeki’s welcome address at the Cape Town Conversation:
Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Max Boqwana, says women should be at the forefront of the implementation of the SDGs in Africa.
He says women can no longer be backbenchers in such critical world issues.
