Goal 17

This is the challenge that brings our efforts on all the other 16 goals together. An ambitious and interconnected global development agenda requires a new global partnership – this includes financing development, connecting people through information technology networks, international trade flows, and strengthening data collection and analysis. Even as the world comes together to unite for global development – in 2017, official development assistance stood at USD
146.6 billion, a small decrease of 0.6% from 2016 in real terms – only five OECD-DAC countries met the UN target of providing official development assistance to the tune of 0.7% of their gross national income in 2017. People around the world come closer together through physical and digital networks – well over half of the world’s population (more than 4 billion users) is now online, with the latest data showing that nearly a quarter of a billion new users came online for the first time in 2017.
Urgent action is needed to mobilise, redirect and unlock the transformative power of trillions of dollars of private resources to deliver on sustainable development objectives. Long-term investments, including foreign direct investment, are needed in critical sectors, especially in developing countries. These include sustainable energy, infrastructure and transport, as well as information and communications technologies. The public sector will need to set a clear direction. Review and monitoring frameworks, regulations and incentive structures that enable such investments must be retooled to attract investments and reinforce sustainable development. National oversight mechanisms such as supreme audit institutions and oversight functions by legislatures should be strengthened.