In the Indicator Report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 49 (34 percent) of the 146 indicators has improved, while 41 (28 percent) deteriorated, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economics) Datuk Sri Mustapa Mohamed in a statement.
He said this in conjunction with the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) release of the third series of the report. The SDGs were launched in 2015 by the United Nations (UN) and adopted by 192 member states.
He said that 34 (23%) indicators were unchanged while 22 (15%) indicators were non-measurable.
Among the indicators of improvement are air and water quality, criminal cases decreased, internet usage increased, women in positions increased and better management of incidence of fatal occupational injuries.
Among the declining indicators, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the GDP per capita growth rate, number of passengers at the airport as well as rates of absolute poverty and unemployment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted three dimensions of the SDGs namely social, the economy and the environment. They pose challenges to the country in achieving the 2030 Agenda.
In economics, the number of recipients of assistance from the Social Welfare Department has increased to 623,800 compared to 561,700 in 2019. This assistance covers 11 types of assistance to children, the elderly and the disabled.
As for security, the number of violent crimes has decreased to 253 murder cases in 2020 compared to 310 cases in 2019.
Air quality for an average annual fine dust level of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in the city improved to 14 µg/m3 in 2020 compared to 23 Aug/m3 (2019).
It said that nevertheless, clinical waste quantities in 2020 have shown an increase of 18.1 per cent over the previous year. This increase is partly due to the increase in waste from health facilities such as personal protective equipment (PPE) used in the handling of COVID-19 patients.
