Abstract
Background:Measuring national progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enables the identification of gaps which need to be filled to end poverty, protect the planet and improve lives. Progress is typically calculated using indicators stemming from published methodologies. South Africa tracks progress towards the SDGs at a national scale, but aggregated data may mask progress, or lack thereof, at local levels.Objective:To assess the progress towards achievement of the SDGs in four low-income, rural villages (Giyani) in South Africa and to relate the findings to national SDG indicators.Methods:Using data from a cross-sectional environmental health study, the global indicator framework for the SDGs was applied to calculate indicators for Giyani. Local progress towards SDG achievement was compared with national progress, to contextualize and supplement national scale tracking.Findings:Village scores were mostly in line with country scores for those indices which were computable, given the available data. Low data availability prevented a complete local progress assessment. Higher levels of poverty prevail in the study villages compared to South Africa as a whole (17.7% compared to 7.4%), high unemployment (49.0% compared to 27.3%) and lack of access to information via the Internet (only 4.2% compared to 61.8%) were indicators in the villages identified as falling far short of the South African averages.Conclusions:Understanding progress towards the SDGs at a local scale is important when trying to unpack national progress. It shines a light upon issues that are not picked up by national composite assessments yet require most urgent attention. Gaps in data required to measure progress towards targets represents a serious stumbling block, preventing the creation of a true reflection of local and national scale progress.
Highlights
Data collected from four villages in rural Giyani were compared to 20 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL (SDG) indicators using the model illustrated above (Indicators falling under SDGs 1, 6, 8, 11 and 17 covering issues of no poverty, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, sustainable cities and communities as well as partnerships for the goals)
Given the definition of access to clean and affordable drinking water and sanitation, as outlined by the SDG South Africa Baseline Report, data suggested that Giyani villages fared well in these water-focused indices as almost 100% of the surveyed households reported to have some form of water access or sanitation [11, 13]
Survey data can contribute to the understanding of local, as well as national, progress towards SDG achievement. This is important in countries where the lack resources focused on socio-economic surveys may represent a limiting factor into why large data gaps exist. This exercise aimed to consider data that were collected in four rural villages in Giyani in relation to the SDG indicators
Summary
They build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and are set to be achieved by 2030. The African Union has developed the “Agenda 2063” which is a strategic framework for socio-economic transformation of the African continent over the 50 years [4] It seeks to accelerate the implementation of past and existing continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development [5]. South Africa tracks progress towards the SDGs at a national scale, but aggregated data may mask progress, or lack thereof, at local levels
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