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Unless we deal with the systemic failures that render exploited groups more vulnerable, there will be no recovery for COVID-19.
The ESCAP SDGs Report 2021 shows that Asia Pacific is not on track to achieve most of Agenda 2030, and the pandemic has further pushed the region off-track. The pandemic presses the need to dismantle the neoliberal development model to realize a transformative, fairer and resilient future for all.
Resilient and Sustainable Recovery from COVID-19 cannot be realized without addressing systemic barriers to sustainable development. The crisis has exacerbated prevalent inequalities of wealth, power and resources exposing the violence of neoliberalism, corporatisation and capitalist hegemony hijacking our democracies, international economic, trade and monetary frameworks restricting state policy space, militarism breeding conflict, patriarchy widening authoritarianism across state and social institutions, and flawed governance marginalizing the poorest. The crisis has exposed the lack of political will across key strategic sectors like health, education and social protection, a decent standard of living, and a safe eco system. The crisis has uncovered globalized capitalism as the catalyst of calamities and proven the failure of neoliberal development at large.
HLPF’s thematic and ministerial segments must analyse the systemic determinants of lacking progress. The process should focus on efficient recovery for developing, least developing and countries in special situations by reducing debt distress, curbing illicit financial flows, and protecting state policy space to safeguard public interest through fundamental reconfiguration of global economic, trade, tax, monetary and financial frameworks. Rather than pushing poor countries for domestic resource mobilization, multilateral processes should synergize taxation architecture to avoid massive tax evasions; help resist debt conditionalities designed to constrict public financing across key sectors; and, help redress hegemonic trade rules and agreements, with instruments like ISDS plundering billions of dollars away from nation states leaving no fiscal space for development or sustainability.
On VNR, the process needs to be democratized to avoid tokenistic representation and to involve subalternized voices for inclusive and transparent progress reviews. National VNR processes must recognize the potential of citizen-led and civil society generated data for measuring change.
The HLPF, needs an annual comprehensive review of all SDGs goals and must reassess the current clustered approach in the next HLPF cycle. There needs to be (i) Interim VNRs submissions to the regional forums and mechanism for VNR follow up reporting in the region; and (ii) Systematic integration of regional forum outcomes and perspectives into the HLPF with a continuous feedback loop into regional, sub-regional and national levels for efficient follow up.
Peoples movements, grassroots communities and civil society in Asia and the Pacific propose a clear vision of COVID-19 recovery. It emphasizes the possibility to realize a rights-based people-centered development model that addresses inequalities of wealth, power and resources within and among countries, between rich and the poor, and between men and women as well as other marginalized groups. It proposes Development Justice - that strives for redistributive, economic, environmental, social and gender justice, and accountability to peoples - as the way forward for people and planet.
