Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, May 1-7, 2020
By Alexander Trepelkov
UNITED NATIONS, April
27, 2020 (IPS) — The SDGs,
with their universal scope,
interlinked nature and focus
on leaving no one behind
will be more essential than
ever during and after this
crisis.
The SDGs encourage
investments in critical public
goods like minimum
levels of social protection
and the provision of services
like health care, clean
water and education which
help to build resilience and
enhance the mechanisms
people have to cope with
the immediate and longerterm
impact of shocks.
The most recent estimates
indicate that some 3
billion people are without
basic handwashing facilities
at home and 4 billion people
lack any kind of social protection.
The SDGs are a commitment
to leave no one
behind, and this includes
ensuring everyone is able
to take measures to reduce
their exposure to the disease
and have the means to
cope and recover.
If anything, the SDGs will
become more important in
the days and months ahead.
The goals and targets set in
2015 are precisely the areas
where progress needs to be
made to build resilience and
guard against future crises
and where we will need
to work to build back after
the immediate tragedy subsides.
Preliminary projections
from the UN system indicate
that COVID-19 could lead
to the first increase in global
extreme poverty in over
20 years, since the Asian
financial crisis of 1981. It
could push 40 to 60 million
people into extreme poverty
and could double the incidence
of food insecurity in
the world.
The challenge for improving
people’s lives after this
crisis will be greater than
ever, but the SDGs will help
guide the path forward to
ease suffering.
Do any goals stand out at
the moment as most pressing?
Because the SDGs are all
interconnected, interventions
can be taken in ways
that achieve one goal while
also leveraging positive synergies
among other goals
to have a wider reach. UN
DESA launched the Global
Sustainable Development
Report last September and a
key message there was that
taking advantage of synergies
and addressing tradeoffs
among goals is the only
way to achieve the 2030
Agenda.
Strengthening human
well-being was identified in
the report as an entry point
for maximizing progress
across the Agenda and there
are examples that investing
in education in science and
technology can help build
capacities for responding to
pressing challenges like climate
change and also like
the current pandemic.
The report also emphasizes
the need for increasing
access to social protection
as economies change and
people need to cope with
disasters, including health
related; and the need for
increasing support for workers
to transition to new types
of work when livelihoods are
dependent on unsustainable
sectors.
All of these are policy
arenas that will be at the
forefront of decision-makers’
attention as countries
grapple with responses to
Covid-19 and try to build
stronger social and economic
systems to reduce future
vulnerabilities.
Are they unrealistic?
What about the 2030 deadline
in light of the pandemic?
The science and knowledge
needed to achieve
the 2030 Agenda is well
advanced and from a science
perspective, the COVID-19
pandemic may even encourage
greater collaboration
and knowledge sharing for
the public good.
There are also some surprising
trends in areas of the
2030 Agenda where progress
has been slow. There is evidence
that lockdown polices
and the resulting reductions
in economic activity have
seen CO2 emissions decline
substantially.
The conditions of these
declines have been tragic and
with loss of human lives and
livelihoods. But there are
questions now as to whether
some of the shifts in human
activity in response to Covid-
19 government implemented
guidelines could open space
for dialogue about behaviour
changes that can support
longer term climate action.
So, we have the evidence
needed to take action and
possibly the space to make
significant policy changes.
But to be successful,
all stakeholders should be
involved in dialogue and
inform the decision-making
processes.
Two annual events that
DESA organizes can provide
a model for multi-stakeholder
engagement and decision
making: the Science,
Technology and Innovation
Forum (STI Forum) and the
High Level Political Forum
on Sustainable Development
(HLPF).
By Day Labor Workforce
Initiative
The Day Labor Workforce
Initiative (DLWI) is calling for
immediate relief and protections
for day laborers and immigrant
workers from the city, state, and
federal governments. As New
York City’s “secondary responders”
day laborers and immigrant
workers make sure that our city
continues to operate safely in
the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
As the city starts to make
progress in controlling the spread
of coronavirus and elected
officials begin to implement
plans to help New Yorkers recover
from this disaster, day laborers,
immigrant workers, low-income
workers and their families
are being left out once again.
Immigrant New Yorkers
make up almost half of the city’s
workforce and are currently
experiencing the highest rate
of unemployment. In addition,
70 percent of the city’s undocumented
labor force consists of
essential workers providing the
most crucial services such as
food delivery and cleaning services.
Providing economic support
to these workers will ensure
that our communities are not
devastated by this crisis and the
entire city’s economic recovery
is swifter. Economic relief must
be made available to all New
Yorkers. This is not only a moral
imperative, it’s also a sound fiscal
decision.
Day laborers and immigrant
workers put their own safety at
risk by continuing to work in
order to ensure that our workplaces
and homes are clean and
disinfected, that our food is
being delivered, and that essential
services are still being provided
to those who need them.
Nevertheless, most day laborers
are facing loss of jobs, economic
insecurity, precarious housing,
and unpaid bills and are unable
to access most, if not all, forms
of relief provided by the city,
state, and federal government.
The long-term economic impact
of this crisis will be devastating
for hundreds of thousands, if
not millions, of hard-working
New Yorkers and their families
who rely on them for support.
New York City will not recover
fiscally until they recover, too.
Economic supports that bring
NYC out of the COVID recession
should not deepen existing
inequities.
We join our communities,
advocates, and other non-profit
institutions in demanding
The city and state provide
direct economic relief to day laborers
and other immigrant workers
who cannot access federal,
state, and local relief efforts
Support and protections for
day laborers and other frontline
workers including PPE, hazard
pay, and protections from wage
theft other forms of employer
abuse
An equitable workforce transition
and recovery plan including
funding for non-profits supporting
day laborers
Far too often low-wage and
immigrant workers, who do not
have access to available safety
net programs, are left out of
disaster responses while bearing
the brunt of the difficult and
dangerous work that comes in
the wake of these disasters.
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SDGs: The challenge to improve
lives after the COVID-19 Crisis
Day laborers call for immediate
relief and protections from city,
state, and federal governments
/schnepsmedia.com
