Zambia’s Progress To Meet SDGs Affected By COVID-19 – HH Informs UN

Zambia’s progress towards meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has been negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, President Hakainde Hichilema told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

President Hichilema told the assembly that the COVID-19 pandemic had compounded the pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in all the spheres of Zambia’s economy, including agriculture production, trade, and supply chains.

The Head of State said the health care and education systems in Zambia like many other developing countries with inadequate ICT have been further disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president said there is an urgent need to enhance Africa’s capacity for innovation and development in ICT infrastructure to enable developing countries, including Zambia, to realise and enjoy the benefits of an increasingly digital world. 

The president reiterated Zambia’s commitment to the implementation of interventions towards the attainment of the SDGs while at the same time recognizing the need to enhance existing coordination, improve target mechanisms and efficient allocation of resources to deliver desired results. 

He said with the changing dynamic nature of the world today it was important that countries leveraged their resources as a global community to advance towards the achievement of the SDGs.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to fight poverty and hunger, confront the climate crisis, achieve gender equality and much more, all within the next ten years.