VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The need for funding to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official from the National Development Planning Ministry/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has said.

"Efforts to achieve SDGs amid the pandemic are even more challenging," expert staff on social affairs and poverty eradication at the ministry Vivi Yulaswati said on Monday.

For Indonesia's SDG roadmap for 2030, the funding required to achieve the projected SDG targets is estimated at Rp67.083 trillion, with the gap in funding pegged at around Rp14.1 thousand trillion, she informed.

"After the pandemic, this funding need has experienced a significant increase globally. It is estimated to increase by around 70 percent. If we use that benchmark, of course, Indonesia's needs would be even bigger,” she said.

At the SDGs Annual Conference at the end of 2020, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had directed that the SDG targets not be changed despite the pandemic, Yulaswati added.

Given the increasing need for development funding and the limited government budget, the government needs breakthrough efforts to meet the funding requirement, she said.

"New breakthroughs are needed to accelerate our efforts for achieving the SDG targets, both through innovation and developing and also fighting for more effective and efficient ways to achieve maximum results," she remarked.

Yulaswati said the President has specifically asked the Minister of National Development Planning/Bappenas to expedite the achievement of SDG targets in a sustainable manner, including in terms of financing.

The SDG funding strategy cannot rely on government budgets and other conventional funding sources but requires various other sources, including companies or business actors, philanthropy, capital markets, impact investing, and crowdfunding, she pointed out.

"These sources are potential to close the gap in the need for SDG funding," she noted.

Therefore, Yulaswati emphasized the importance of synergy and integrated efforts that can link all potential innovative funding to achieve the SDG target.

“One of the things we are trying to do is to develop an SDG financing hub. This concept will be discussed further in various agendas at the G20," she noted. (Antaranews)