SDG Dom Billings

SDG #4 is to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Within SDG #4 are 10 targets, of which we here focus on Target 4.2:
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
Target 4.2 has two indicators:
Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
Indicator 4.2.2: Participation rate in organised learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex
The UN agency responsible for monitoring the first indicator for this target is UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), focused upon children. The indicator is served by UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development Index 2030, a tool to measure this indicator’s progress. The science underlying early childhood development has revealed it as a crucial intervention in the effective nurturing and care in a child’s overall development, and the SDGs present an opportunity to expand and implement such findings to the greatest possible scale.
Worldwide, as of 2022, only 69% of children aged 3 to 5 are on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being. 
The second indicator for this target looks at pre-school, defined according to UNESCO’s International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). The ISCED exists to provide uniformity across the different education structures and curricula across countries.
As of 2020, 74% of children at the age of one year before primary entry were enrolled in organised learning, about the same as 2015, at the adoption of the Global Goals. Disaggregated by sex, per the definition of the indicator, the enrolment of both sexes was at parity as of 2022.

SDG #4 is to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Within SDG #4 are 10 targets, of which we here focus on Target 4.1:
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to a relevant and effective learning outcome.
Target 4.1 has two indicators:
Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grade 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) Mathematics, by sex
Indicator 4.1.2: Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
Indicator 4.1.1 looks at minimum proficiency levels. This is the benchmark of basic knowledge, as measured by assessments, in this instance, for reading and mathematics. This indicator looks at reading and maths skills at three points: grade 2 and 3, end of primary schooling, and end of lower secondary. Performance level descriptors describe the knowledge and skills demonstrated by students at each. Performance level descriptors help us to assess students across countries.
Let's look at the respective descriptors for each grade.
Reading, grade 2: Being able to read and comprehend familiar written words and extract explicit information from sentences.
Reading, grade 3: Read written words aloud, understanding the meaning of sentences and short texts and identifying the topic.
Maths, grades 2/3: To make sense of, calculate numbers, and recognise shapes.
Reading, end of primary: Interpreting and giving explanations about the main and secondary ideas in different texts and establishing connections between main ideas and their own experiences.
Maths, end of primary: Basic measurement and reading and creating graphs.
Reading, end of lower secondary schooling: Establishing connections of the author’s intentions and reflecting and drawing conclusions based on the text.
Maths, end of lower secondary school: Solving maths problems, using tables and graphs, as well as algebra.
The data for assessing trends in students draws from a half-dozen surveys, some run by UNICEF and UNESCO. UNESCO the UN’s agency focused on education. The purpose of these assessments is to survey the effectiveness of learning outcomes. In some countries, it’s possible for a student to pass through grades without meeting the minimum proficiency levels.
International large-scale assessments test educational outcomes. An example is PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) for reading literacy in grade 4 students.
There are also several large-scale learning assessments at the national and regional level. UNESCO’s office in Santiago houses the bureau focused on education in the Latin American and Caribbean region. This includes the LLECE, the Spanish acronym for the Latin American Laboratory for Evaluation of the Quality of Education. The LLECE runs the ERCE, the Spanish acronym for the Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study, a major large-scale learning assessment for the region.
Other examples of large-scale learning assessments at the regional level include: 
SEACMEQ (Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality)
Pacific Community’s Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment
SEAMEO (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization)
PAL (People’s Action for Learning) Network 
The benefit of these surveys is they serve as tools to provide the evidence which then goes toward making decisions to improve education. This then serves those children not attaining the expected learning outcomes for their grade level.
As of 2019, the proportion of students worldwide at the end of primary education meeting minimum proficiency levels in reading was 58%. This was down 1% since the start of the SDG period in 2015. For maths at the same level, the worldwide share of minimum proficiency was 44%, and

SDG #3 is to “To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”
Within SDG #3 are 13 targets, of which we here focus on Target 3.c:
Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in the least developed countries and small island developing states.
Target 3.c has one indicator:
 Indicator 3.c.1: Health worker density and distribution
According to 2017 data, reflecting only two years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the number of medical doctors per 1,000 people in the world was 1.75. For the low-income countries, this number was 0.32 doctors for every thousand people, in contrast to 3.73 in high-income countries and 1.49 for middle-income countries.

SDG #3 is to “To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”
Within SDG #3 are 13 targets, of which we here focus on Target 3.b:
Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non‑communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all.
Target 3.b has three indicators:
Indicator 3.b.1: Proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national program.
Indicator 3.b.2: Total net official development assistance (ODA) to medical research and basic health sectors.
Indicator 3.b.3: Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis.
First of all, what is the Doha Declaration, as mentioned in the body of the target. This refers to an agreement made in Doha, Qatar at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in 2001. The World Trade Organization is the world’s peak international organisation for international trade, and though it works alongside the UN, is independent of it. 
The focus of the declaration  for this target is on the TRIPS Agreement, an international treaty which stands for Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The TRIPS Agreement is an annex of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization, signed in the Moroccan city in 1994. One of the key relationships between the World Trade Organization and the UN in relation to the TRIPS Agreement is via the World Intellectual Property Organization, one of the UN specialised agencies
This Marrakesh Agreement was the result of the so-called Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, within the framework of another international treaty, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) designed to reduce or remove international trade barriers, tariffs and import quotas. 
In turn, the lengthy Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations, drawn out over 1986 to 1994, resulted in the establishment of the World Trade Organization to replace the GATT, with the Marrakesh Agreement acting as one of the WTO’s founding documents.
To turn back to the TRIPS Agreement, this WTO treaty relates to the enforcement of intellectual property rights worldwide, both for authors of creative works, and all manner of copyrights, patents and trademarks. 
The nature of the Doha Declaration is to recognise the importance of public health of developing countries, and least developed countries in particular, who are at the frontline of infectious epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. 
As it applies to the TRIPS Agreement, the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health makes it clear public health ought to take precedence over intellectual property, and though intellectual property rights is an important aspect of drug discovery, it should be balanced with the prices with which such medicines are made available in the poorest countries.
Within the definitions of our first official indicator for this target regarding vaccine coverage, we’re looking at the vaccines recommended by WHO and UNICEF, including two doses of measles, a full schedule of HPV, three doses of pertussis, and the toxoid vaccines of tetanus and diphtheria, whereby the toxins from bacteria are weakened. Also included is an immunisation for pneumococcal disease.
Looking at progress for this indicator, as of 2021, 81% of the one-year-olds worldwide have been immunised with the DPT vaccine, a 4% decrease since 2015, at the adoption

SDG #3 is to “To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”
Within SDG #3 are 13 targets, of which we here focus on Target 3.a:
Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate
Target 3.a has one indicator:
Indicator 3.a.1: Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older
The World Health Organisation FCTC, or Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is an international treaty overseen by the World Health Organisation, adopted in 2005 at the 56th World Health Assembly, which exists alongside the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, a treaty aiming to eliminate the illicit trade of tobacco. Another program within the WHO working toward raising awareness of tobacco’s threats and ways to reduce it’s use is the Tobacco Free Initiative.
In the West, we’re most  familiar with tobacco in the form of cigarettes, but let’s take a look around the world to see how different cultures adapt the plant from the nightshade family  belonging to the genus Nicotiana. According to the definitions of this target and its indicator, tobacco includes such applications as Indonesian kretek, which is blended with cloves, and snus, popular in Sweden and Norway, which is a form of dipping tobacco, placed between the lip and the gum, similar to naswar in Afghanistan, or toombak in Sudan. Dipping tobacco poses a threat of cancer of the mouth and throat.
Smokeless forms of tobacco go by many names throughout India and South Asia. One of these is gutkha, a combination of tobacco and calcium hydroxide; catechu, which is an extract from the tree Senegalia catechu; nuts from the areca palm tree; and leaves of the betel tree. Though smokeless, these products still pose a medical threat and can cause cancer. This preparation can also be made without tobacco, whereby it’s known as paan, or betel nut chewing, though still poses a cancer risk without the inclusion of tobacco.
The indigenous Yup’ik people of Alaska and Russian Far East use a smokeless tobacco product known as iq’mik, which poses a risk of heart disease, stroke and metabolic disorders such as diabetes and liver disease.
The FCTC reports on global progress to lower the trends of the prevalence of tobacco use. This data shows the global share of tobacco use is 22% as of 2020, not much further down than rate of 24% at the time of the SDGs adoption in 2015.

SDG #3 is to “To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”
Within SDG #3 are 13 targets, of which we here focus on Target 3.9:
By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
Target 3.9 has three indicators:
Indicator 3.9.1: Mortality rate attributed to the household (indoor) and ambient (outdoor) air pollution.
Indicator 3.9.2: Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, sanitation, and lack of hygiene.
Indicator 3.9.3: Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning.
Exposure to PM2.5, or particulate matter of a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, from both outdoors and household air pollution, poses great risks to health worldwide. Much of the culprit of household air pollution is due to the use of 2.4 billion people worldwide cooking using open fires or stoves burning biomass, kerosene or coal, resulting in an estimated 3 million annual deaths. The saddest facet of these deaths is such individuals simply wish to have access to energy, but the only form affordable and accessible to them compromise their air quality, and affect their health. 
The air in people’s home’s is killing millions, attributable to the burning of solid cooking fuels like wood, despite it being since the times of the earliest humans. Other fuels which put populations at risk in the home from burning are animal dung, charcoal, agricultural waste, and inefficient kerosene stoves.
Some of the causes of deaths which put populations at risk from long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter can be caused by conditions affecting the blood flow and blood vessels in the brain, and problems due to narrowed arteries in the heart, which supply blood to the heart’s muscles. Such risks of the burdens of disease from exposure are due to behaviours, environments and occupations..
To help measure this, the World Health Organization’s Global Health Estimates are used, which separate deaths by country and cause.
Mortality from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene is most observed in low- and middle-income countries, which we’ll explore in greater detail when looking at SDG #6 (Clean Water & Sanitation).
As of 2019, the global death rate from household and ambient air pollution stands at 104 per 100,000 people; 18 deaths per 100,000 from unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, and 1 death from unintentional poisoning per 100,000.