And so, it officially comes to an end. These past few months, we’ve taken on a long journey of late-night meetings and cramming to get blog posts and submissions as we took on the TSP virtual exchange program. Getting to know you all through these blogs has been especially remarkable. This program made me want to continue writing these blogs and even start a podcast now. I doubt people would like to hear me spew about all my opinions, but I do have a lot to say, so let’s see.
Diving straight into today’s topic, let’s talk about the “Global South” and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
By now, we all know what the SDGs are, so let’s talk briefly about what we mean by Global South.
The term Global South loosely refers to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, most of Asia (minus a few outliers), and parts of Oceania. Less-economically or underdeveloped nations, emerging economies, developing countries, etc., all fall under the term “Global South.” To put it even simpler, it is the outcome of an imperialist legacy, the nations the colonizers deemed less-er than.
The pursuit of the SDGs is far from uniform when discussing the question of developed vs. underdeveloped nations worldwide. The inconsistencies of sustainable development within the Global South can be attributed to domestic and international factors.
After listening to several of my peer’s podcasts and my own research, it has become apparent that the international community’s main hindrance toward reaching any of the 17 goals highlighted by the SDGs is their focus on money and economics. The Global North plays the primary role in what we deem “international factors,” be it the nations themselves or the institutions run by them, that aid or hinder developing countries from progressing toward any of the SDGs.
Much of what hinders less-developed nations from reaching most SDGs is their economic situation. Zooming into North Africa, taking the cases of both Egypt and Tunisia, both nations are faced with growing debt crises, with a push to continue to undergo more international borrowing with the SDGs in mind. However, more debt is not their answer. Their growing focus on debt repayment fosters Egypt’s water insecurity, and as a result of their insufficient infrastructural development, the conditionality of their growing debt is becoming more intense. Similarly, Tunisia’s debt has been exacerbated by the pandemic and the recent political changes, only pushing them towards less sustainable city development.
The international community does little to fix these growing debt crises by doing the exact opposite actually. The only possible course toward the SDGs is through more international borrowing and IMF conditionality leaning on the side of the growth of these debt crises.
We can’t accredit all insufficiencies of sustainable development just to international factors, as domestic issues play an equal part. Looking at the case of El Salvador, their social unrest and growing criminal activity mainly contribute to their inadequacies in achieving Goal 1: No poverty and Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. The domestic political changes made by their leader have been the main factor in any progress that El Salvador has made toward these SDGs.
And so, how exactly has the international community hindered the achievement of the SDGs by the Global South? The world is still looming with the colonial legacy, and it’s unfortunate to say that much of the Global South remains dependent on its ex-colonial powers for their sustainable development, be it through monetary means or simply by following their development structures.
The disparities between developed and underdeveloped nations in reaching the SDGs heavily depends on a country’s economic nature. The Global South will remain under this label until it can gain the economic means to reach basic development and then further it through sustainable development. We cannot expect nations battling fundamental means of life to focus on these umbrella ideas of sustainability presented by the UN, at least not with the Global North’s continued pressure.
We’ve all learned a whole lot from this program. Not only did we engage in rigorous conversations about the interactions of nations worldwide, but we also gained insights into our individual perspectives on these topics. It’s been a pleasure writing to you all. I hope you’ve enjoyed my take!
– Yusr 🙂