Financing SDGs under a new normal: Challenges and response to COVID-19 pandemic
Financing SDGs under a new normal: Challenges and response to COVID-19 pandemic
Author: Tientip Subhanij and Zenathan Hasannudin
The year 2020 has witnessed an unprecedented COVID-19 crisis where many human lives have been lost. We have also witnessed the tremendous magnitude and speed of collapse in economic activity– something unseen in our lifetime. This is certainly not good for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where prior to this crisis, the world was already falling behind in efforts to achieve them.
The pandemic has led the global economy to a new conundrum. Just in the first three months, investors moved around US$90 billion out of emerging markets, the largest outflow ever recorded. Global growth is projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fall to -3 per cent this year, making it the worst recession since the great depression and much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
In Asia and the Pacific alone, the drop in global demand will cost an estimated US$172 billion from trade alone, equivalent to 0.8 per cent drop of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the region. Of more immediate concern is the COVID-19 crisis impact on fiscal position, which exacerbates the risk of a new debt crisis in the region.
CIRSD Vice President Stefan Jovanović Speaks at Regional Conference on China’s Role in the Western Balkans
Belgrade, June 5, 2025 – Stefan Jovanović, Vice President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), participated in the regional conference “Democracy Meets Strategy: Parliament’s Place in China Policy”, held in Belgrade. The event gathered parliamentarians, policymakers, and experts from across the Western Balkans to examine the region’s evolving cooperation with the People’s Republic of China.
Read more
Despite Enticing Narratives, the International Community Has Fueled Bosnia’s Instability
In 1984, during the Sarajevo Winter Olympics, Bosnia and Herzegovina was presented to the world as Yugoslavia’s poster child—a picture that would fall apart only eight years later.
Read more
Democracy in Iraq: A Facade for Corruption and Human Rights Violations
To guarantee the protection of the rights and freedoms of its people, the Iraqi government must be a true democracy.
Read more
CIRSD Hosts Horizons Discussion with Professor Andrey Sushentsov on Russia’s Global Role and the Future of Multipolarity
Belgrade, April 2025 — The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) hosted a special edition of its acclaimed Horizons Discussions series, featuring an in-depth conversation between CIRSD President Vuk Jeremić and Professor Andrey Sushentsov, Dean of the School of International Relations at MGIMO University and one of Russia’s most influential strategic thinkers.
Read more
Author:
