Report: Slow progress toward Sustainable Development Goals

• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Date: 01 May 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30314

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MAY 2017NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

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DOI: 10.1002/nba

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Nonprot Research

Nonprots widely adopting wireless tech,

digital communications

New data compiled by Nonprot Tech for Good

and the Public Interest Registry show that the global

charitable sector has widely adopted wireless technol-

ogy and digital communications, although some areas

of the world are ahead of others, especially in the use

of text messaging technology to communicate and

accept donations from the public.

The data, outlined in the 2017 Global NGO Online

Technology Report, show that on the whole, some

92 percent of the world’s nongovernmental organi-

zations have a website, most of which are mobile-

compatible; 71 percent regularly send email updates

to donors and volunteers; 67 percent accept online

donations; and 15 percent accept donations via text

messaging.

When broken down by continent/region, the differ-

ences in the adoption rates of specic online tools and

digital technologies become apparent. For example:

• NGOs in Africa and Asia are far outpacing their

peers in their text-based communications. Some 39

percent of African NGOs regularly send text mes-

sages to their supporters, as do 31 percent of their

Asian counterparts. That’s compared to just 8 percent

in Europe, 6 percent in Australia/Oceania, 4 percent

in South America and 3 percent in North America.

• More developed regions are able to accept

donations online, with about 85 percent of North

American NGOs doing so, compared to 66 percent

for Australia/Oceania, 61 percent for Europe, 49

percent for Africa, 48 percent for South America

and 47 percent for Asia.

• Developed regions are also more likely to have a

social media presence. For North American NGOs,

95 percent have a Facebook page, 85 percent have

a Twitter prole and 51 percent have an Instagram

prole. European and South American NGOs log

similar numbers, on the whole, while groups from

Africa and Asia tend to have fewer social media

accounts—especially with Twitter and Instagram.

Sustainability experts say the world has made

little progress toward the 17 Sustainable Develop-

ment Goals set by the United Nations in 2015, and

little on sustainable development overall, accord-

ing to Evaluating Progress Towards the Sustainable

Development Goals, a new report by GlobeScan and

SustainAbility.

Per the report, sustainability experts agree that

society’s progress on all of the SDGs has been

lackluster, with the specic goals of Reduced In-

equalities, Life Below Water, Life on Land and No

Poverty singled out as the areas where society’s level

of achievement has been lagging the most.

The report is based on the observations of over

500 experienced corporate sustainability profession-

als in 74 countries who were asked to evaluate the

progress that has been made on each SDG.

Drilling down, the report said nongovernmental

organizations and social entrepreneurs are seen by

experts as doing the most to advance the goals (38

percent of experts rate the performance of NGOs,

and 33 percent that of social entrepreneurs, as

good). In contrast, national governments and the

private sector are seen as performing particularly

poorly on contributing to progress on the SDGs,

with 61 percent of experts rating the performance of

national governments as poor, and 49 percent giving

the same rating to the private sector. According to

the report’s authors, this indicates plenty of room

for more activity and recognition in this space.

When asked which of the SDGs are the most

important for society to focus on to drive overall

progress toward sustainable development, 39 per-

cent of the sustainability experts chose Climate Ac-

tion, which was also the one goal receiving the most

attention within the experts’ own organizations.

To read the report in full, visit http://sustainability

.com. ■

Report: Slow progress toward Sustainable Development Goals