SDGs Progress in nepal

The Sustainable Development Goals 2016-30 is a global call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and the environment, and ensure global peace and prosperity. Their 17 goals, 169 targets, and 232 indicators seek to address not just the manifestations, but the complex and entrenched roots of the economic, social, and environmental problems of the contemporary world.

Nepal was one of the countries that took an early lead in launching the national SDG roadmap.

A total of 479 indicators have been proposed for monitoring and evaluation of the SDGs in Nepal.

Of these, only 35 percent of the indicator’s data value is available on a regular, periodic basis, while another 55 percent is expected to be available through census, surveys, and administrative records.
The remaining 10% data value for tier three indicators is not available. For this assessment, data are available for only 218 (or 44 percent) indicators.
Major data gaps are with respect to Goal 2 (Hunger), Goal 6 (Water), Goal 9 (Industry, infrastructure), Goal 11 (Cities), Goal 12 (Consumption and production), Goal 13 (Climate), and Goal 17 (Partnership).

SDG 1 : No Poverty

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

SDG1.1: Population Below Poverty Line ($1.9/day)

This indicator is to measure proportion of population below the international poverty line. The "international poverty line" is defined as $1.90 per day. The graph shows the constant decline of population living below international poverty line since year 2010 onwards. Nepal has decreased the percentage even though not as significant as India and Bangladesh, from around 10% in 2010 to below 5% in 2019.

SDG 1.2: GNI Per Capita (US$)

The GNI per capita is the dollar value of a country's final income in a year, divided by its population. This line graph shows that GNI per capita of Nepal is under 2000 US$, along with other countries in South Asia such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Maldives tops the list with nearly 10.000. However, the overall trend is towards increasing side.

SDG 2 : Zero Hunger

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

SDG 2.1: Prevalence of Undernourishment

The prevalence of undernourishment is the share of the population with a caloric intake which is insufficient to meet minimum requirements for a healthy life. The graph shows that Nepal has the lowest prevalence of undernourishment among other countries in South Asia with around 6% in 2017, while Afghanistan has the highest with around 28%.

SDG 2.2: Prevalence of Stunting

Stunting represents severe malnutrition as is apparent when a child has too low height-for-age. A child is stunted when their height-for-age is 2 or more standard deviations below the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards. This graph compares the prevalence of stunting in four countries of South Asia. Overall, all countries have decreased the percentage of children under 5’s prevalence of stunting. The percentage of Nepal is 5.65% by the year of 2019, similar to Bangladesh with 5.02% in the same year.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

SDG 3.1: Maternal Mortality Ratio

Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births. The graph shows that Nepal was the second-highest maternal mortality rate after Afghanistan with 186 deaths in 100,000 live births in 2017. However, the overall trend from 2010 to 2017 is decreased.

SDG 3.2: Under-5 Mortality Rate

The under-5 mortality rate measures the number of children per 1,000 live births who die before their 5th birthday. The graph shows that all countries in South Asia including Nepal has decreased under-5 mortality rate from 2010 to 2019. Nepal especially has decreased the percentage from 46.6% to 30.8% in ten years

SDG 4: Quality Education

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong education for all

SDG 4.1: Gross Enrollment Ratio

Gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education is to measure equal access to further education. The graph shows that the percentage of total enrolment in tertiary education in Nepal has fluctuated but tends to stable with 14.4% in 2010 and 14.94 in 2014. Meanwhile, India has the highest percentage and tends to increase every year

SDG 4.2: Total Official Flows for Scholarships

This indicator measures the levels of financial support and development assistance provided for education and training scholarships to developing countries. The graph shows that total official flows for scholarships received by Nepal have fluctuated but tend to decrease with 9.1 million in 2010 and 7.4 million in 2020.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

SDG 5.1: Women Married by the age of 18

The graph shows the proportion of women aged 20–24 years who were married or in a union before age 18. Nepal has decreased the percentage from over 40% to around 30%. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has the highest percentage among other countries in South Asia with over 50% in 2019

SDG 5.2: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in South Asia

The graph shows the share of national parliamentary seats, and ministerial positions held by women for each country in a given year. It can be seen that Nepal has the highest percentage among other countries in South Asia with 32,8% in 2020 while Sri Lanka and Maldives have the lowest with below 8% from 2010 to 2020.

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Ensure availabilty and sustainable management of water and sanitation

SDG 6.1: Population having Basic Handwashing Facility

The given charts depict the picture of south Asian population who has access to basic handwashing facilities.

maldives is best perfomer in the region whilst Afghanistan needs to introduce more intervention in order to make its population getting used to wash their hands.

Nepal being third from the last, has a long way to go through to provide basic handwashing facilities to its citizen.

SDG 6.2: Percentage of Land Covered by Wetlands

The box chart above shows the percentage of land area covered by the wetlands registered in RAMSAR convention. Generally, the coverage in each country shows the stagnancy over the period of time.

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

SDG 7.1: Population Using Electricity at Least 4 Hours a Day

This graph shows the percentage of the population using electricity at least 4 hours a day in south Asian countries.

Overall trend shows the increasing access to electricity in south Asian region. The rate in afghanistan was dramatically risen (compared to other indicators)during the given time frame.

Pakistan has to work more to provide electricity to all of is residents.

Nepal's electrification rate was slightly decreased by aroud 2 percent in 2019.

SDG 7.2: renewable energy generation(watts per capita)

The graph shows renewable energy generation (watts per capita) in South Asian countries.

Interestingly, being one of the smallest country, Bhutan has the highest rate of renewable energy generation (mainly hydroelectricity with 0.1 million population).

Rest of the countries are at similar levels.

SDG 8: Decent Jobs and Economic Growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

SDG 8.1: GDP Per Capita Growth

The given chart displays the trend of GDP per capita (gross domestic product divided by midyear population) growth in south Asian countries during the period of 2010-2020.

overall, trend looks mixed till 2019 and experienced downward movement after covid pandemic.

Maldives suffered the most with more than 32 percent reduction in its GDP per capita growth subjected to its tourism and fisheries-dependent economy, as tourism was severly hit during the covid pandemic period.

SDG 8.2: Annual Growth Rate of Real GDP per Employed Person

The given charts display the annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person(dividing GDP at constant prices by the total employed population of a country) in south Asia on Year on Year (YoY) basis. Generally speaking, countries faced the downward trend across the years.

Maldives experienced the worst situation in 2012 (-9).

South Asia has seen declining rate due to ongoing pandemic.

Nepal has seen negative growth rate during Earthquake and Economic sanction on South border during the year 2015/16.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Build resilient in infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

SDG 9.1: Manufacturing employement as a proportion of total employment

The given chart measures the manufacturing sector's value added contribution to south Asian countrys' total gross domestic product (GDP) for a decade starting from 2010.

Almost all of the countries faced downward trend except Bangladesh.

This chart illustrates that Bangladesh has the highest stage of industrial development while Maldives is left behind in the early stage of industrial development in this region.

SDG 9.2: Manufacturing Sector's Employment

The chart measures the manufacturing sector's employment as a share of the south Asian countrys' total employment for a decade ending at 2020, which means the number of people having paid-employment in industries is very low.

All of the countries have slower growth for employment opportunities in manufacturing sector.

Sri Lanka made a remarkable growth during the year 2014 and stands at the top while Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan are struggling at the bottom.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Reduce inequality within and among countries

SDG Goal 10.1: Total Assistance for Development

This is a graph that shows the total resource flows for development, by recipient and donor countries. Data for this indicator measures total resource flows for development, which comprises of Official Development Assistance (ODA), other official flows (OOF) and private flows.India is by far the highest recipient of such development assistance followed by Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Other countries in South Asian region are at similar levels.

SDG Goal 10.2: Income Share held by Richest 10% (Palma Ratio)

This graph reveals that Income growth inequalities amongst South Asian Countries. It shows the Percentage share of income or consumption accruing to the richest 10% of the population. In a country with 100 people, if you rank them by income the share of the top 10% corresponds to the sum of incomes of the top 10 people, as a proportion of total income in that country. In this regard, rich people of Sri Lanka have the highest share of income whereas Pakistan has the lowest. Nepal is at the lower end of this spectrum.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable

SDG Goal 11.1: Urban Population Living in Slum Households

This graph shows the proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing in South Asia. A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, and durability of housing. South Asian in general has shown the decrease of such population as year goes by. But, large proportion of population in Afghanistan and Bangladesh are still in the misery of living in slums. The proportion of India shows some peculiar characteristics as such population is increasing across the years. Even 30% of Indian population means more than 40 million people, which should be taken in account.

SDG Goal 11.2: Mean Levels of PM (Pollutants)

This indicator measures the population-weighted exposure to ambient PM2.5 pollution; that is, concentrations of suspended particles measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Maldives has the cleanest air, whereas Nepal and India are the country with most polluted air. The skyrocketing construction in Nepal post Earthquake in 2015, development works, the geographical location of capital Kathmandu has ameliorated the situation.

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

SDG Goal 12.1: Renewable Energy Sources Capacity

The graphs shows the installed capacity of power plants that generate electricity from renewable energy sources across South Asian countries which is measured in watts per capita. Bhutan is the leader in this regard whereas other countries are way behind, which is depicted by the color intensity here.

SDG 12.2: Food Waste Per Capita

The bubble plot graph above shows the amount of food wasted per capita, measured in kilograms/households in South Asian region. Mean food wastage is just above 71 kg/households, except Bangladesh, almost all the countries are above average level.

SDG 13: Climate Action

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

SDG 13.1: Annual Deaths from Natural Disasters

The trend shows the number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population in South Asia. The sudden spike in the year 2015 is for Nepal accounts for the heavy loss of lives (in ten thousands just in a 30 seconds duration) of 8.1 (Seismic Magnitude Scale) richter scale earthquake (April 2015 Nepal Earthquake). Other than that year, the proportion remains stagnant.

SDG13.2: Number of Local Levels Adopting DRR

The bubble plot above shows the proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies. With the adoption of new federal structure of government in Nepal, there is a sudden decline in the number of such local levels ( 3995 to 753) as they are no more in existence. There is no information regarding Pakistan. Bhutan has the lowest number of such local levels.

SDG 14: Life Below Water

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development

Nepal being a land-locked country does not pursue this goal and has no national indicators developed so far.

SDG 15: Life on Land

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and reserve land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

SDG 15.1: Share of land covered by forest

Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems. Again when we talk about green, Bhutan is the leader in South Asia (71%) which is again justified in the above graph followed by Nepal with nearly 41% of forest coverage, above the average in South Asia. Afghnistan lags behind in this regard.

SDG15.2: Share of land area that is protected

Similar to above graph, this indicator shows the Share of land area that is protected. Again Bhutan is the leader here (48%), Sri Lanka second (30%) followed by Nepal (23%). Afghanistan is lagging again.

Correlation of Forest Coverage and Protected Land

The correlation coefficient value of 0.9294 shows the high correlation between SDG15.1 (Forest Coverage) and SDG15.2 (Protected Land). It implies that more forest you have, you will protect more land. Bhutan and Nepal are the perfect examples of this correlation and they lead both indicators.

SDG 16: Peace and Justice-Strong Institutions

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive instructions at all levels

SDG 16.1: Intentional Homicide

The graphs above shows the intentional homicidal rate per 100000 person in South Asian countries. War prone Afghanistan obviously shows the highest number of homicides followed by Pakistan. Thus showing the security risks around those areas.

SDG 16.2:Conflicts Related Deaths

The given charts show the number of people died because of conflict, in south Asia. Overall, the number is heavily dominated by Afghanistan, inviting many questions about the security situation in the country. Afghanistan has higher rates during 2015-2016. Such number in Bangladesh as well as other countries have experieced the downward trend in 2011.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

SDG 17.1: Government Revenue as a Share of GDP

Revenue is cash receipts from taxes, social contributions, and other revenues such as fines, fees, rent, and income from property or sales. Grants are also considered revenue but are excluded here. With the color intensity from fainter to dark, it is clear that Bhutan and Nepal has highest share of gov revenue on GDP. It means the revenue from private sectors is lower. There is no data available for Maldives and Pakistan. If we carefully look after the Nepalese context, the color intensity moves towards darker shade across the year showing such ratio increasing on YOY basis. Bhutan shows mixed and somewhat reverse trend. The above figure is repeated as shown below in the time series graph.

SDG 17.2: Personal remittances as a share of GDP

Personal remittances comprise personal transfers and compensation of employees. Personal transfers consist of all current transfers in cash or in kind made or received by resident households to or from nonresident households. Compensation of employees refers to the income of border, seasonal, and other short-term workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident and of residents employed by nonresident entities. Nepal is way ahead of its counterparts in South Asia followed by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Maldives is at the bottom end of such spectrum.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, Nepal Nepal has achieved remarkable progress in the country’s economic development with a high growth rate, and during this period poverty has reduced significantly leading to macroeconomic stability. Nepal has set an aspiration of a ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ with social justice in its long-term vision which includes graduating from the least developed country status by 2022 and achievement of the SDGs by 2030. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought an unprecedented situation in the country’s socio-economic front challenging the achievements of SDGs. The COVID-19 Pandemic has the potential of not only delaying, but effectively reversing the positive trends in most SDGs, particularly SDG 1 (Ending Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Healthy Lives), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 10 (Reducing Inequalities), and SDG 17 (Partnership for Sustainable Development). It may therefore, be essential to realign strategies for the attainment of SDGs and fine-tune targets in the context of Nepal to reflect the new-normal.Nepal is exploring ways to minimize its multifaceted impacts by implementing the recovery strategy with the help of SDGs.