21 August 2018
South African SDG Hub Reports on National Implementation
Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
story highlights

A report by the South African SDG Hub explores SDG implementation in South Africa, and presents progress on indicators related to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 17.

The report discusses monitoring and evaluation, STI, partnerships and tools for SDG implementation, among other topics.

The Hub aims to connect South African policy makers with research and innovations for implementing the SDGs.

6 August 2018: The South African SDG Hub released a report on challenges and opportunities related to SDG implementation in the country. The report highlights a number of issues relevant to implementing the SDGs in South Africa, from partnerships and tools to the role of science, technology and innovation (STI).

The South African SDG Hub, housed at University of Pretoria, aims to connect South African policy makers with research and innovations for implementing the SDGs.

The report titled, ‘Implementing the SDGs in South Africa: Challenges and Opportunities,’ presents in graphs the country’s progress against the indicators for SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), SDG 15 (life on land), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals).

The report describes South Africa’s national planning, monitoring and evaluation system for the SDGs, which it says “is coherent and allows for alignment between planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation.” The report explains that Statistics South Africa monitors the SDGs prioritized by the national government, while the remaining Goals “will require social partners to assess relevance, provide data and agree on progress made.” The chapter also addresses promotion of citizen and multi-stakeholder engagements, expansion of youth involvement and knowledge infrastructure.

The report outlines the UN’s engagements with the Government of South Africa on the SDGs. The UN and the Government are discussing a Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support (MAPS) mission that will assess SDG alignment with South Africa’s Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF 2014-2019) and identify SDG Indicators Accelerators. The UN is supporting harmonization of interventions and civil society organization (CSO) accountability through convening 36 CSO alliances under an umbrella agenda, among other actions.

In addition, the UN Global Compact (UNGC) South Africa network has identified strategic action projects aligned with the SDGs, and is working to establish a national SDG institutional coordination mechanism at the provincial and local levels to drive SDG implementation throughout the country.

The report also considers the role of development partners and the role of researchers. It highlights “a large volume of research” relevant to SDG implementation, and identifies the coordination and dissemination of research on SDG implementation as a primary challenge. On STI, the report asserts that, despite considerable investments and advancement, equitable access to knowledge infrastructure remains a challenge, and South Africa is working to promote more equitable access in line with the principle of leave no one behind (LNOB). [Publication: Implementing the SDGs in South Africa] [South African SDG Hub]

related posts