The Sustainable Development Goals – hereby SDGs – are an extension to the previous global Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015). The SDGs constitute a post-2015 development agenda with a vision for equity, sustainability, peace and security, and the elimination of poverty. The SDGs come with a number of similarities and differences. Seventeen goals are defined which are universal, applying to high, middle and low income countries (see Table X in the Appendix). The SDGs are interconnected and encourage a multi-sectorial perspective for improving the lives of future generations; partnerships are thus central to achieving the SDGs.
An official list of indicators has been created to monitor progress in implementing the SDGs, with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the key international body guiding implementation (see Table X in the Appendix). Furthermore, a number of international forums, and meetings, have been established to domesticate and raise awareness on the SDGs, for example: Data4SDGs.
However, this report focuses on Tanzania. When discussing the SDGs in the context of Africa a number of factors need to be taken into account. Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, created in 2013, defines the continents development declaration. Agenda 2063 defines 20 goals, 256 targets and 231 indicators, specifically contextualised for Africa and its vision for an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent. With this, there is convergence between the SDGs and Agenda 2063. Visions of social development; inclusive economic prosperity; peaceful societies and institutions; and sustainable environments, are reflected in both (Cassaza, 2015). Divergences emerge with the exclusion of sustainable consumption, production and management of ecosystems in Agenda 2063, and its inclusion of specific cultural targets and security agendas (ibid.). Tanzania has ratified both the SDGs 2030 and longer term, Agenda 2063; alongside regional development plans, such as the South African Development Community (SADC) Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2005-2020).
The concern is how effectively has the nation ‘domesticated’ the agenda(s); and what are the future plans to integrate the SDGs, as well as Agenda 2063, into national plans, policies and practice? Kida (2017) identifies three key needs for Tanzania to effectively implement the SDGs by 2030: (i) effective participation of local government authorities (LGAs) and stakeholders to define how SDGs should be adapted in Tanzania; (ii) increased, and innovative, financing to support the agenda, and (iii) adequate resources for developing a statistical system to monitor and evaluate progress. This report builds on such discussions