About 57 per cent of respondents in a research conducted by the Ghana Civil Society Organisations Platform on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have never heard of the SDGs; an indication that most Ghanaians have low level of awareness of the SDGs.

This was made known at a press conference as part of the Global Week of Action on SDGs held by the organisation at the Ghana International Press Center in Accra.

Speaking to the media, Convener for SD  Goal 8 and General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers' Union of Ghana (GAWU) of the   Trades Union Congress Ghana(TUC), Mr Andrews Addoquaye Tagoe said that   Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest prevalence of hunger with a rate increasing from 20.7 per cent in 2014 to 23.2 per cent in 2017 while its youth are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019.

He again noted that several gaps in the legal frameworks are failing to protect women's rights, resulting in women and children being subjected to harmful practices that affect their lives.

He also highlighted other instances in the report that may take the world off track in achieving the SGDs. These include schools lacking basic elements to offer quality education, absence of trained teachers and adequate facilities, low level of industrialization and the absence of measures to tackle climate change .

Mr Tagoe called on governments to help promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, tackle the multiple dimensions of inequality, deliver on their promise of 'Leaving No One Behind' by tackling issues of inequality at its roots in order to end discrimination against marginalized and vulnerable groups.

He urged them to take steps that will protect humanity and human rights , show stronger commitments to move economies from fossil fuels towards clean, renewable energy sources to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and further eliminate it by 2050.

Special Guest at the conference, Jeong Yi Choi, Deputy Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) said that the SDGs are characterized by 17 global goals and 19 targets in sync with common values.

KOICA, she said, aims at contributing to the realization of SDGs in their 44 partner countries. She noted that the SDGs epitomize existing global challenges and ambitious solutions in 17 goals and 169 targets.

As part of flagship projects, KOICA is focusing on eliminating poverty and hunger in Ghana by partnering with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to   build the capacity of farmers in some parts of the country with funding of over USD 6 Million through development and livelihood empowerment programmes.

They are also helping selected communities with healthcare at a cost of about USD 9 million in areas such as provision of   Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds and building the capacity of community health workers and so on.

KOICA has provided funds in several other areas such as global health security, implementation of projects in Northern and Oti regions to help women and girls in   education, provision of drugs to eliminate anemia among others.

Convener for CSO's Youth Platform on SDGs, Obaa Akua Konadu said that the SDGs is an ambitious development agenda for all countries.
  The organisation is determined to work through all the 17 SDGs and has included the Youth Platform as the 18th to address issues concerning the youth which are not captured in the 17 SDGs.