The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Special Edition

The Special Edition of the Sustainable Development Goals Report is now out. Migrants are one of the populations at risk of being left behind in our quest for the SDGs, but also provide substantial contributions to progress - if we create enabling conditions and opportunities.

The picture is stark. We cannot simply continue with more of the same and expect a different result: a fundamental shift in needed - in commitment, solidarity, financing and action - to put the world on a better path. And it is needed now.

"Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been."

António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations

Overall findings:

• Just 12% of the 169 SDG targets are on track.
• Progress on 50% of the SDG targets is weak and insufficient. 
• Progress has either stalled or even reversed on more than 30% of the goals.

We must act now. To "rescue" the SDGs, we must put migrants and human mobility at the heart of our solutions. The report mentions several key data points around the opportunities and challenges for migration and displacement if we are to reach the SDGs. Most discussion about migration are in reference to SDG 10 on reduced inequalities, calling upon the international community to make bold change towards well-managed human mobility: 

• In 2021, 63% of 138 countries with data reported having a wide range of policies to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people. This was defined as having policy measures for 80% or more of the sub-categories under the six domains of Target 10.7. 
• By May 2023, 110 million people had been displaced worldwide, and 35 million of those were refugees. 
• The number of people displaced from their countries due to war, conflict, persecution, human rights violations, and public disorder has increased year by year for ten years. The ratio of refugees to every 100,000 people has also risen to 398, an 87% increase from 2015, as forced displacement continues to rise. 
• Nearly 7,000 people died during the process of migration worldwide in 2022, with the number of deaths in various regions returning to pre-pandemic levels and, in many instances, even surpassing them.

Read the report to find out more, including how migrants and displaced people contribute to our fight for change, and join us at the SDG Summit in September to co-create solutions to our global challenges. If you want to read more about specifically how migration can be integrated into our thinking about the SDGs and 2030 Agenda, have a look at our interactive feature.