The world is “alarmingly” off-track in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, said United Nations (UN) secretary-general António Guterres in May. Malaysia’s investments in SDG governance have paid off, however, and its progress in achieving the SDGs is above the global average.

This is based on Malaysia’s latest Voluntary National Review (VNR) presented at the UN High-Level Political Forum in New York last month. Malaysia’s VNR shows that 43% of the SDG targets are on track to be met by 2030, compared with the global average of 17%.

[X] CLOSE
Advertisement

Contributing factors to this achievement include the alignment of the national development agenda with the SDGs since the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 to 2020), the establishment of SDG road maps and improvements in data collection.

The inclusion of civil society organisations (CSOs) and localisation of the SDG agenda in states and municipalities are two other notable achievements, according to the interviewees whom ESG spoke to.

Omna Sreeni-Ong, founder and principal consultant of Engender Consultancy, cites the working committee on CSOs chaired by the Malaysia CSO-SDG Alliance — of which she is a member — and the establishment of the All Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on the SDGs (APPGM-SDG) as examples. The APPGM-SDG localises SDGs in parliamentary constituencies, in collaboration with members of parliament.

“We hope to see the integration of SDGs in the 13th Malaysia Plan’s implementation and monitoring framework for a measurable and coherent outcome.” – Sreeni-Ong, Engender Consultancy
“We hope to see the integration of SDGs in the 13th Malaysia Plan’s implementation and monitoring framework for a measurable and coherent outcome. The SDGs provide a rigorous results-based framework, underscored by a rights-based and gender-responsive approach that complements the national development plan,” she says.

Ahmad Afandi, independent consultant and researcher at Greenglaive Consulting, praises the government for voluntarily preparing the VNR, signalling its willingness to be accountable.

The work being done by CSOs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on SDGs is also highlighted in the VNR, which can be used as a reference by others, he adds.

Another positive thing to note is the improvement in data collection by the government, which is done by designating the Department of Statistics Malaysia as the focal point for SDG data, and establishing the National SDG Progress Monitoring system. The VNR highlights that the availability of SDG indicators rose to 79% in 2023, from 52% in 2020.

“The challenges and next stage of work are to translate these policies and strategies into policy delivery that produces positive outcomes on the ground.” – Ahmad Afandi, Greenglaive Consulting
But more needs to be done. There must be more disaggregated data, suggest Ahmad Afandi and Sreeni-Ong, where, for instance, data is categorised by income level, gender, age, disability status and so on. Official data should be supplemented with third-party sources, including those from academia, CSOs and NGOs.

“In this regard, an emerging global consideration that is being promoted is the utilisation of citizen-generated data to complement official statistics, fill data gaps and enhance inclusive decision-making,” says Sreeni-Ong.

Where Malaysia is off-track
There are also SDGs where Malaysia is off-track (based on forecast SDG performance targets from 2022 data). These include Goal 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) at 58%; Goal 3 (good health and well-being) at 54%; Goal 5 (gender equality) at 44%; Goal 13 (climate action) at 40%; and Goal 14 (life below water) at 40%.

Ahmad Afandi observes that SDG 13 (climate action) is off-track because it is still a work in progress, although the government recognises the challenge and is preparing the National Adaptation Plan, adopting disaster risk-reduction strategies at the sub-national level and improving disaster governance.

“Goal 3 is held back because of non-communicable diseases and mental health issues, health financing and the management of health risks.” – Danesh, Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development
“The challenges and next stage of work are to translate these policies and strategies into policy delivery that produces positive outcomes on the ground,” he says.

Malaysia is on track to achieve Goal 4 (quality education) at 80%; Goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities) at 67%; and Goal 7 (affordable and clean energy) at 60%.

Danesh Prakash Chacko, senior research analyst at the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University, who is project lead for the team that launched the SDG for the Malaysia States tracker in 2022, has similar observations on the outperformance of Malaysia’s SDG achievement compared with the global average.

The lag in the achievement of Goal 16 is due to unaddressed corruption and the proportion of children aged under five whose births have been registered with a civil authority, says Danesh. These issues are being addressed by the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024-2028 and Menyemai Kasih Rakyat initiative respectively.

“Goal 3 is held back because of non-communicable diseases and mental health issues, health financing and the management of health risks,” he explains.

Globally, achieving the SDGs by the deadline may be challenging, he observes. Global cooperation is needed to address issues such as climate change and global peace, which seems impossible amid the current political climate and wars. In addition, an “economic system that is profit-centred means the balance of economic development, social progress and environmental protection is hard to achieve”, he says.