COVID-19 has awakened us with a very hard blow, we have to live life differently. In the world, the call for a great reset is now increasingly echoing.
By
SUHARSO MONOARFA
·7 minutes read
REUTERS/ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA
Students of Sam Khok school wearing face masks and face shields are seen inside old ballot boxes repurposed into partitions as they attend a class after the Thai government eased isolation measures and introduced social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as schools nationwide reopen, at Pathum Thani province, Thailand, (1/7/2020).
In the history of human civilization, 2020 will forever be remembered as a period of devastating crisis whose precedent can only be equated with the Great Depression of the 1930s and the World War. Even, in the middle of 2020, we have not yet been able to see how deep the crisis will go. Anxiously, we are witnessing the rapid spread of COVID-19 and how the health crisis has destroyed many years of development efforts.
As in the historical dynamics of the world crisis, the crisis will make a big change. The crisis forces us to reflect on what went wrong earlier, then what needs to be done and changed to ensure that the crisis does not recur. More than that, during this pandemic, we are also anxiously watching the Earth become increasingly fragile because it supports nearly 8 billion people with all its dynamics, and at the "culmination point".
It is projected that the world population in 17 years will reach 9 billion people. According to scientists, that means the deadline for the number of people that can be supported by the Earth (carrying capacity) if humans continue to "insist" with the pattern of life as it is today. At that point, food, water, and energy, which are increasingly scarce, will become a source of conflict that will never end in the future. That means that the world will no longer be the same as previously. The world will be more vulnerable to various crises. This is the great challenge of humanity today, how to meet the needs of the present and anticipate future crises.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world with all its activities to slow down, after having been driven nonstop since the Industrial Revolution century. A blessing in disguise, COVID-19 forces us to be quiet and clear about what has happened and is happening in the world. Even though we are now entering a new normal, it does not mean that the old normal was something ideal. Isn\'t the new normal now the result of the old normal? The habits of the past are not necessarily an ideal thing to continue to strive for into the future. Albert Einstein once straightforwardly said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but hoping that the results are different.”
COVID-19 has made us aware of the absence of ceteris paribus. It is already impossible in the world, which has been linked and interconnected, to be able to isolate one event from another. This pandemic problem, which is related to health, is very clear, like a row of cards falling into a multiplier effect. The collapse of the health sector has an impact on the tourism sector, then followed by transportation, construction, manufacturing, finance and so on.
A big question then arises, namely: How should we carry out development? How do we meet the needs of the present, improve human progress and well-being, but at the same time pay attention to a natural and sustainable balance? It is clearly the way we live our lives that must change.
Great reset
COVID-19 has awakened us with a very hard blow, we have to live life differently. In the world, the call for a great reset is now increasingly echoing. The great reset will be the main theme of the prestigious meeting of the World Economic Forum next year. In essence, we must reset what we have done before. We have to leave past habits that are not compatible with the future.
It is very fortunate that the world already has Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs are not only philosophical discourse, but are already being implemented at the operational level. SDGs are basically a means for all stakeholders, both government and non-government, throughout the world to lead a sustainable life. That means tackling how today\'s needs are met, but without sacrificing the future. If SDGs are consistently carried out by all countries, the sustainability of the Earth as a habitable place for all can be more secure.
In the breath of SDG sustainability, the balance factor becomes the main emphasis. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of how human pressure on wildlife can turn upside down so violently, thereby threatening humankind. For example, the use of groundwater is so excessive that if it continues at its current pace, Jakarta will become the world\'s first megapolitan to sink.
The birth of SDGs stems from the awareness that natural resources are not unlimited. Social, economic and environmental balance must be maintained. Ignoring one side, in the end, is the disaster of human life. The COVID-19 pandemic is a very bitter lesson in the evolution of human life today.
What is also very strategic in the SDGs is the principle of being inclusive. This means that the implementation of the SDGs is an orchestration of joint movement of the government and non-government stakeholders. It is obvious that it is impossible for development to succeed if it done only by the government itself. Governments, both central and regional, need to join hands with the business sector, philanthropic and community organizations, the media and universities for the achievement of the SDGs. The next question then is, how far has Indonesia committed to and implemented the SDGs?
Indonesia has mainstreamed SDGs in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024 document. If the previous RPJMN had 94 targets to prioritized, it has now increased significantly to 118 targets. The RPJMN will be the main materials for the ministries/institutions and regional governments to implement development programs. This means, in implementing SDGs for Indonesia, there will also be national development. In addition, Indonesia will also immediately formulate a National Action Plan (RAN) for the SDGs 2020-2024, which will involve all stakeholders. The RAN of SDGs 2017-2019 involved 108 nongovernmental organizations, both from the profit and non-profit sectors.
Kompas/Bahana Patria Gupta
A woman passes in front of a Covid-19 pandemic-themed mural made by the Surabaya Mural Union on Jalan Stasiun Wonokromo in Surabaya, East Java, Thursday (2/4/2020).
This year, involvement will be greater. As an example of enthusiasm, just for testing the SDGs action plan template, more than 100 public companies participated in the Bappenas initiative in collaboration with the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
The sword path
In terms of planning and budgeting, SDG budget tagging is still ongoing. This will be integrated with an electronic monitoring and evaluation (emonev) system that will be able to monitor the progress of implementing the SDGs. SDG achievement dashboards have also been built and continue to be improved to monitor achievements up to the regency/city level, by separating data and measuring discrepancies with targets. Considering that Bappenas is one of the supporters of Indonesia\'s One Data, the process of integrating data will be easier. This is certainly very useful for policy making, and of course openly accessible to the public.
The impacts of COVID-19 have made the economy run slowly. Of course, this results in the reduction of state revenue. The devastating social and economic impact requires strong fiscal intervention to increase the deficit. To strive for the achievement of SDGs through various innovative financing, Bappenas is now developing the SDGs Financing Hub (SFH), operational this year. The task of SFH explores various financing potentials from within and outside the country with various financial innovations, to fund various activities for the achievement of SDGs.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has made part of the development achievements collapse, Bappenas, which as an institution was assigned as a development planning agency and at the same time a national coordinator for the implementation of the SDGs, is committed to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. COVID-19 has shown increasingly that the SDGs are the inevitable path of development and necessary to become a prosperous, just, advanced and sustainable country.
RIAN SEPTIANDI
Suharso Monoarfa
History proves that developed countries are countries that are able to survive and even skyrocket after facing severe problems. However, an absolute requirement for this is the spirit of mutual cooperation for a common goal. Therefore, Bappenas invited SDG stakeholders to take the "sword path"; a steep road that is rarely taken, out of the comfort zone, looks for breakthroughs, innovates and tries hard to ensure the SDGs can be achieved for the progress of the nation. Let us make golden history ink together to build Indonesia.
Suharso Monoarfa, National Development Planning Minister/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
