DefinePK

Abstract

Pakistan has reaffirmed its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a top priority. However, Pakistan faces several challenges in implementing policies related to SDG targets, which have slowed down its progress. The study aims to explore recent progress towards SDGs targets and identify the challenges Pakistan faces. Using a qualitative approach, this study utilized secondary data from various governmental and non-governmental sources, online libraries, and websites. Content analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative datasets and information. Pakistan was ranked 137th out of 166 countries in a recent SDG Index evaluation, with an overall score of 57.0 percent in 2024. Although the country has made modest progress toward its “poverty,” “health,” “well-being,” “water and sanitation,” “decent work,” “peace and justice,” and “partnership goals,” It stalled on “zero hunger,” “quality education,” “gender equality,” “clean energy,” “innovation,” “sustainable cities and communities,” and “life below water” goals. It went backwards on ‘living on land.’ Several systemic barriers have been identified, including data availability, lack of coordination, inadequate capacity, absence of evidence-based policy, economic challenges, a perceived “lack of political will,” and financial constraints. There should be ongoing support and policy shifts toward addressing sustainable development challenges, facilitated by a network of institutions aligned with the country’s prioritized requirements and the evolving global sustainable development agenda. The SDGs provide an opportunity to create a more prosperous future; hence, Pakistan needs to address these challenges through international collaboration to improve progress and achieve all targets by the end of 2030.