Keynote Address: Accelerating Progress Towards the Achievement of SDGs in the Kingdom of Eswatini Ms Lungile Dladla 9th African Regional RCE Meeting 5-7 August, 2019, Luyengo, Eswatini

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Accelerating Progress towards the
Achievement
of
Sustainable Development Goals
in
ESWATINI
PREVAILING ENVIRONMENT
• The Kingdom of Eswatini is located in the Southern Africa, bordered by
Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west and
south. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa with about 17 363
square kilometres of which 160 square kilometres is water
• Economic performance: population 1,093,238; GDP growth rate estimated
at 0.62% (2018) and 1.09% in 2019; GDP per capita at USD4,071 (2018);
unemployment rate at 23%; among the youth at 40% (2016); national
poverty rate at 58.9% (2017); extreme poverty at 20.10%; income poverty
($1.90/day) at 42%; and the HDI at 0.588
• Integration of the goals into national frameworks: NDS review (2014)
titled Strategy for Sustainable Development and Inclusive growth (SSDIG);
National Development Plan launched (2019); Strategic Roadmap (2019)
• Institutional structures and arrangement for SDGs: SDGs Technical Team,
Steering Committee (PS level), reports to Cabinet
SDG 1: END POVERTY
• Poverty trends: 69% (2000) to 63% (2010) to 58.9%
(2017)
• Social Protection interventions: grants for Orphans &
Vulnerable Children (OVCs) and elderly and disability;
Rural Development Fund (RDF), Youth Enterprise Fund,
medical fund (Phalala), Junior Achievement .
• Beneficiaries of the elderly grant declined by 44%
between 2016/17 and 2017/18, (from 94, 851 to 65,
773)
• OVCs grant beneficiaries increased by about 8% from
2015/16 to 2018/19 distributed in 250 high
• OVC as share of all children = 71%
POPULATIONLIVING BELOWTHE INTERNATIONAL POVERTYLINE
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
National Rural Urban Male Female Hhohho Manzini Lubombo Shiselweni
Year 2010 63 73 31 59 67 61 58 68 69
Year 2017 58.9 70.2 19.6 67 59.4 54.1 51.5 67.3 71.5
Percentages
SDG 2: ZERO HUNGER
• Maize production was 113, 039 metric
tons (2017/18) while domestic
requirement is 134, 342 metric tons
(2018), leaving a 11.8% shortfall. Less
than 20% of households produce
enough to eat and sell.
• Undernourished children at ages under 5
years at national level is 5.8% of which
6.2% is rural, and 4.3% urban (2014).
• Stunting at national level is 19.9% (under
5s), of which 22.11% is males, and
17.55% females (2018)

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SDG 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
• Maternal mortality ratio was 593/100,000 in 2012, dropped
to 474/100,00 in 2014 and further declined to 452/100000
in 2017 against a target of 120/100,000
• Under 5 mortality rate was 80 deaths per 1000 in 2012,
increased to 104 deaths per 1000 live births 2014 dropped
74/1000 in 2017
• HIV incidence rate was 2.1% in 2011 and declined to 1.4%
in 2016 for ages 15 – 49 years
• The 90:90:90 HIV target could not be achieved, instead the
country achieved the 84.7: 87.4: 91.9 in 2018 which is very
close
• Tuberculosis: case detection rate improved from 46% in
2012 to 74% in 2017; treatment success rate rose from 77%
in 2012 to 83% in 2017 for ordinary TB; and for MDR (TB)
rose from 56% in 2012 to 73% in 2017
• Malaria: diagnosis and treatment improved from 85% in
2012 to 97% in 2017
• Non – Communicable Diseases mortality reduced by 11.9%
from 561 deaths in 2013 to 494 in 2017
SDG 4: QUALITY EDUCATION
• Early Childhood Care and Development
Education (pre – primary) which is in private
hands about 22% of children access it (2014)
• National completion rates: at primary level was
93.5 in 2014 and rose to 106.1 in 2016, while at
secondary level it was 49.6 in 2014 rising to 61.5
in 2016
• Literacy rate on average is 95.3% for women,
and 91.8 % for men (Population Census 2017
preliminary results)
• TVET enrolment: in 2018, enrolment in 2 large
institutions was 1,850 students of which the
majority were male.
Goal 5: Achieve Gender Equality And Empower All
Women And Girls
• Policy environment: National Constitution of
Swaziland, July 2005, Gender Policy 2010, Child
Protection and Welfare Act 2012,
• Election of women members into House of
Assembly Act 2018
• Proportion of women in decision making
positions: Parliament 18%, Cabinet25%, Local
Government 14%
SDG 6: CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
• National Coverage of safe water supply is 69%
(March 2019) but access rate is lower due to
poor maintenanceof infrastructureand
inability to pay by poor households. About
96% of urban population have access to clean
water compared to 63% in rural areas.
• Population using safely managed sanitation
services: at national level is 53% of which 78%
in rural areas and 94% in urban areas
• Water quality: proportion of treated waste
water from industries and urban areas is
about 75%, all river waters are within ambient
conditions.
SDG 7: CLEAN AND AFFORDABLE ENERGY
• Access to electricity:
At national level, it rose from 69% in 2014
to 78% in 2018,
 For rural areas, it rose from 55% in 2014 to
65% in 2018,
For urban areas, it rose from 84% to 88% in
2018
SDG 8: DECENT JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
• GDP growth rate improved at a declining rate
from 0.4% (2015) to 0.62% (2018) but with
declines during years in between
• GDP per capita increased from $2,798(2015) to
$4,071(2018)
• Informal employment in non-agriculture sector:
it showed an increase of about 10% at national
level from 54.3% in 2013to 65.2%in 2016
• In 2016,about 67 582 Micro SMEs were
established and 14 765 were registered.
• Working age population between ages 25 and
34: about 37.9%are females and 45.6% are
males
• Unemployment: dropped at national level from
28.1% in 2013 to 23% in 2016

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SDG 9: INNOVATION INDUSTRY & INFRASTRUCTURE
• Road infrastructure: paved roads improved
by only 11km between 2017 and 2018 the
rest of the works were upgrade and
maintenance on existing roads.
• Freight volumes by rail and air transport:
volumes of exports by rail dropped from
239 000 tonnes in 2016 to 224 000tonnes in
2017, while volumes of imports increased
from 250 000 tonnes in 2016 to 265 000
tonnes in 2017
• Air passengers: declined from 56,785 in
2016 to 56,755 in 2017
• Country has improved its accessibility to the
internet from 2G to 4G in 2018
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Extreme poverty at 20.10%;
• Gini co-efficient: 54.1
• ODA: about 23% decline
• Remittances: about 11%
• Dependence ratio: 1: 10
Goal 11. Make Cities And Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe,
Resilient And Sustainable
• Proportion of urban households living in informal
settlements: 25%
• Number of properties under title deeds ownership:
about 20,000
• Number of persons affected by disaster (drought):
about 200,897
Goal 12. Ensure Sustainable Consumption And
Production Patterns
• National Industrial Policy
• Recycling facility in the country (Ngwenya
Glass- bottle).
• Production of electricity using biomass
• Procurement policy 2008 and Act 2011
• Revised Tourism Policy 2018 -2022
SDG 13: CLIMATE ACTION
• Developed the National Climate Change
Policy and Strategy 2016 (Paris
Agreement on Climate change)
• National Resilience Strategy and
Disaster Risk Reduction Plan of Action
(2017 – 2021) in line with the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
was developed and integrated into the
National Development Plan 2019/20 –
2021/22
• Number of persons affected by drought
declined by 3% between 2015 and 2017
Goal 14. Conserve And Sustainably Use The Oceans, Seas And
Marine Resources For Sustainable Development
• Level of pollution in transboundary water resources:
• Dry Season: 30%
• Wet season : 20%
• Average water acidity (pH) :
• Within 6.8 to 7.2 pH
• Total fish stocks in the country: 7mt.
• National water and fisheries policies

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Goal 15. Protect, Restore And PromoteSustainable Use Of Terrestrial Ecosystems,
SustainablyManage Forests, CombatDesertification, And HaltAndReverse Land
DegradationAnd HaltBiodiversity Loss
• Total forest area: 703363,2 ha
• Proportion of land covered by invasive alien plant
species: 80%
• Proportion of degraded land: 30%
• Coverage by protected areas of important sites for
mountain biodiversity: 4%
SDG 16: PEACE AND JUSTICE
• Reported cases of abuse: show an
increase of 26.4% from 7,729 in
2015 to 10,504 in 2016.
• Seized fired arms and light weapons
indicate a big rise from 45 in 2016 to
149 in 2017
• Intentional homicide increase slightly
from 112 deaths in 2016 to 123
deaths in 2018 which is 8.9%
increase
SDG 17: PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS
• Support to the country’s development
programme
• Domestic revenue without grants
declined by about 2.4% between 2016
and 2017.
• Grants received increased by about 30%
resulting in approximately 1.3% increase
in GDP
• External Assistance, the highest receiving
sectors are health which received
US$31.7m, infrastructure US$25.3m,
agriculture US$7.9mln and water &
sanitation US$4.5mln for 2016/17
financial year
CHALLENGES
• Middle Income Country status makes it difficult to access
concessional funding and grants whereas indicators show a lot of
fragility.
• Inadequate resources for implementation
• Inadequate capacity for adaptation and resource mobilisation
• Shortcomings in producing timely and quality data
• Public investment hindered by inadequate resources and capacity
shortfalls
• Monitoring tools are inadequate
• Poor targeting of intervention measures leading to poor results
LESSONS LEARNT
• It is important to prioritise and implement SDGs according to country’s
challenges as it is not possible to implement all at once due to capacity
constraints to mobilise resources
• Targeting is an important aspects to achieving expected results.
Otherwise, intervention measures may not reach the intended population
• Capacity building / strengthening. In implementation of the SDGs, capacity
is a challenge leading to inefficiencies and wastage of resources as well as
poor implementation with programmes not implemented.
WAY FORWARD
• Resource mobilisation for SDGs implementation
• Strengthen capacities for optimum utilisation of development assistance
• Increase public sector investment Optimum public investment
• Strengthen monitoring mechanisms, particularly statistics production

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!