The Progress of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council on Achieving the United Nations SDGs

6. Discussion & Recommendations This section provides an overview of the Council’s progress on the SDGs and offers recommendations based on the research findings, the specified context of the region, with particular consideration given to the local challenges evident in the Borough and guided by relevant literature regarding attaining progress toward the SDGs on a local level. When assessing progress toward the SDGs, it is important to recognise that the goals are not placed on a hierarchical ladder, hence, equal importance should be given to each (Nagy, Benedek and Ivan, 2018). Each recommendation is presented individually and in the following structure: the current SDG gap; evidence to support this gap as a priority; actions which would allow progress to made toward achieving success in this gap; and the SDG that this progress would work toward.

Child Poverty Goal 1: No Poverty, Target 1.2 aims to halve the proportion of “children of all ages living in poverty”. Child poverty is associated with a wide range of health damaging impacts, negative educational outcomes and adverse long-term social and psychological outcomes. The poor health associated with child poverty limits significantly children’s potential and development (Wickham, 2016). While MEABC is currently deliver many programmes that tackle forms of poverty in the Borough, they are not currently delivering any programmes that directly deal with child poverty. Barnardo’s NI, the largest children’s charity in NI, reported that the current COVID-19 pandemic, and enormous negative social and economic impacts affecting citizens everyday lives, is placing more children in vulnerable situations and at risk of child poverty (2020). While the NIMDM 2017 stated that 17% of MEA’s population aged 15 and under are living in households whose equivalised income is below 60% of the NI median, it can be assumed in the given circumstances that this figure has risen. Achieving target 1.2 locally requires support for policies to reduce child poverty, providing services that reduce the health consequences of child poverty, comprehensive measuring and understanding of the problem in the Borough, and assessing the impact of any actions (Wickham, 2016). Additionally, further incorporation of strategic themes that tackle child poverty into a comprehensive Inclusive Growth Strategy (IGS), such as MEA Local Development Plan, and implementing policies promoting work-life balance, better quality, and better paid jobs, are key to reducing child poverty in the long term (Benedetti, Betti, & Crescenzi, 2020).

Promoting Resilient Agricultural Practices Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Target 2.4 aims to “ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices”. Currently, MEABC is not delivering any actions that directly work toward this target. The Agri-food Study and Action Plan (MEABC, 2019c) identified that there are 1,797 farms registered in MEA and highlights the strong base of food production and processing companies in the Borough. The action plan lays out four key areas which the 59