World Bank President, Ajay Banga
UN General Assembly: World off-track on SDGs, says World Bank President
The World Bank President, Ajay Banga, has said the world is off-track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have devastating implications for people’s lives worldwide.
A statement signed by Banga said evidence from the World Bank’s Atlas of the SDGs shows that some 574 million people—nearly seven percent of the world—will be severely restrained by extreme poverty in 2030 unless the poorest countries grow at rates never seen before.
The World Bank President said the heavy toll of the COVID-19 pandemic undid decades of progress to expand childhood learning, eradicate tuberculosis and malaria, and boost childhood immunization, adding that development aid has also shifted away from the most vulnerable countries.
At this halfway point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, the world needs to raise its ambition and double down on creating jobs and growth—all while combating climate change and its impacts, he stated.
The statement on the bank’s site said, “The World Bank is adapting so we can use more tools to deliver results to people and play a crucial role in the coalition to turn around the SDGs. We are bringing diagnostics and solutions, working more closely with partners and other development players, and unleashing private sector capital.
“We must find a way to finance a different world, one where climate resilience is strong, pandemics are manageable, food is abundant, and fragility and poverty are defeated.”