Devex Newswire: Have the SDGs become slaves to the superrich?

Have the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals become hostage to the powers that be — and naive to how the world really works?

Also in today’s edition: The United Kingdom tries to have its cake and eat it too in Gaza. Plus, what role does religion play in modern-day development?

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Doomed to fail?

The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals are a lofty exercise in bettering the planet, but they’ve been brought back down to earth by their depressingly lackluster progress so far.

The traditional narrative is that the targets — set in 2015, to be delivered in 2030 — have been derailed by a so-called polycrisis of catastrophic events including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But the new head of Oxfam International, Amitabh Behar, patently rejects that narrative and argues that politicians have become servants of the superrich and the protectors of their capital as opposed to their own constituents, my colleague Rob Merrick writes.

Politics is beholden to the powerful, and it’s time the world recognized that reality, Behar said.

“I don’t doubt the people who have worked very hard in getting the SDGs, but they never addressed the fundamental questions of how the global economy is organized — how power is distributed, how does the [U.N.] Security Council work?” he warned.

Rob conducted a wide-ranging interview with Behar as he entered his influential new post, and he provided some other interesting tidbits that challenge the conventional wisdom. A snapshot:

• Behar argued that civil society must change from its “traditional role of a charity provider working with governments” to pushing for “systems change” — whether in “the corridors of power of the U.N. and the World Bank.”

• He admits there is “resistance” within parts of Oxfam to its efforts to “decolonize,” with only eight of 21 affiliated organizations at “the decision-making table” from the global south — while arguing “we are ahead of most” because of a commitment to achieve parity.

• He says Oxfam has escaped the funding crises that have engulfed other INGOs including Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee, which are making mass layoffs after sharp income drops.

• He attacks governments still selling weapons to Israel despite its “clear violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza, where there is “forced displacement, forced starvation.”

Read more: SDGs were doomed to fail from the start, new Oxfam chief warns (Pro)

Also read: Behar’s opinion pieces for Devex

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‘Half-baked’ compromise

On the lightning rod topic of providing arms to Israel, Rob tells me that the U.K. has waded into the debate — with predictable backlash.

For two months, the new Labour government has agonized over weapons sales to Israel, torn between domestic pressure to suspend them and the risks of a diplomatic rift with the United States, which continues to supply them.

Now Foreign Secretary David Lammy has acted — but with a compromise that freezes only 30 of around 350 export licenses, a move quickly attacked as “a half-baked ban which risks maintaining U.K. complicity in war crimes,” according to the campaign group Global Justice Now.

Lammy told members of Parliament: “The assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that, for certain U.K. arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

The suspended licenses include “components for fighter aircraft (F-16s), parts for unmanned aerial vehicles, naval systems, and targeting equipment” judged to be “for use in the current conflict in Gaza,” the U.K. government said.

Global Justice Now countered: “You wouldn’t deal with a dangerous arsonist by halving their petrol supply. Britain is still providing military goods to a government accused of genocide. That position is morally reprehensible.”

With U.K. companies supplying only about 0.02% of Israel’s arms imports, the move will have little military impact — but is seen as having political significance, given the U.K.’s staunch support for Israel since last October’s Hamas massacre.

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Following the money

The U.K. weapons decision may not have much of a tangible impact on the ground in Gaza, but its development sector still packs a global punch.

My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan discovered that the largest nonprofits in the U.K. are also some of the leading implementers of development and humanitarian activities across the world, with 28 charities enjoying cumulative earnings of £6.1 billion (almost $8.1 billion) in their latest fiscal year — either 2022 or 2023.

And after a yearslong downward trajectory, that £6.1 billion represents an 8% increase from the charities’ previous filings or around £452.2 million in monetary terms.

Save the Children International reported the largest latest revenue among the 28 nonprofits, worth £1.4 billion. To find out the rest, check out Miguel’s numbers analysis.

Read: The largest UK development charities — and where they get their income (Pro)

Talking the talk on religion

Religion has at times had an uneasy, taboo relationship with the secular side of development and humanitarianism. The spread of religion in lower-income countries has echoes of colonialist paternalism, and religious doctrine can contradict nondenominational views on marriage and LGBTQ+ rights.

But Seiko Kanda, program coordinator of World Vision Japan, argues that religion is intrinsic to development.

“With approximately 85% of the global population adhering to some form of religion, especially in lower-income areas, it is a given that religious beliefs, individuals, and institutions play important roles in international development work in many, if not all, settings,” he writes in an opinion piece for Devex.

As such, Kanda — who worked for the Japanese government before joining a faith-based NGO — says organizations should at least be well-versed in religious literacy. That involves understanding “the significance and relevance of religious beliefs as well as secular worldviews, in ways that help individual practitioners reflect on the meaning and purpose of their work in an increasingly complex world,” he argues.

“In my experience, whether in inclusive education in the Middle East, farmer income diversification in Africa, or advocacy work in Latin America, truly positive and lasting change rarely occurs without deep and personal connections among those involved,” he writes.

“In contrast, witnessing professionals in international aid — especially those from industrialized countries — tiptoeing around issues of identity and values has left me with a question: Are we not prepared to connect with our neighbors, whose religious values and traditions shape an essential part of who they are?”

Opinion: Why religious literacy matters in the aid industry

In other news

Pope Francis began his longest foreign trip with climate change high on the agenda during his 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. [Reuters]

The European Court of Justice is waiting for Hungary to pay a €200 million fine and lift its long-standing restrictions on the right to asylum. [Euronews]

U.N. experts raise alarm over a sharp rise in executions in Iran, with over 400 carried out so far in 2024, including 81 in August alone. [VOA]

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