Linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals and health in Somalia

Rage Adem; Hassan W Nor; Mohamed M Fuje; Abdinur H Mohamed; Tobias Alfvén; Rhoda K Wanyenze; Ahmed Y Guled; Mohamed M Biday; Nina Viberg; Daniel Helldén

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-18319-x

Linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals and health in Somalia

BMC Public Health. 2024 Mar 27;24(1):904. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18319-x.

Authors

Rage Adem^#^{1

2}, Hassan W Nor^#^{3

4}, Mohamed M Fuje³, Abdinur H Mohamed³, Tobias Alfvén^{4

5}, Rhoda K Wanyenze^{6

7}, Ahmed Y Guled³, Mohamed M Biday³, Nina Viberg^#^{4

5}, Daniel Helldén^#^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Benadir University Institute of Research & Development (BIRD), Mogadishu, Somalia. raage09@bu.edu.so.
² Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden. raage09@bu.edu.so.
³ Benadir University Institute of Research & Development (BIRD), Mogadishu, Somalia.
⁴ Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ Center of Excellence for Sustainable Health (CESH), Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden.
⁶ Center of Excellence for Sustainable Health (CESH), Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
⁷ Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
⁸ Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden. daniel.hellden@ki.se.
⁹ Center of Excellence for Sustainable Health (CESH), Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden. daniel.hellden@ki.se.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 compromises 17 universal and indivisible goals for sustainable development, however the interactions between the SDGs in Somalia is not known which is vital for understanding potential synergies and trad-offs between the SDGs. Hence, this study aims to identify and classify the linkages between the SDGs with a focus on health and well-being (SDG 3) in Somalia.

Methods: Following the SDG Synergies approach, 35 leading experts from the public and private sectors as well as academia and civil society gathered for a 2-day workshop in Mogadishu and scored the interactions between the individual SDGs on a seven point-scale from - 3 to + 3. From this, a cross-impact matrix was created, and network models were used to showcase the direct and indirect interactions between the SDGs with a focus on SDG 3 (good health and well-being).

Results: Many promoting and a few restricting interactions between the different SDGs were found. Overall, SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) influenced the other SDGs the most. When second-order interactions were considered, progress on SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) showed the largest positive impact on SDG 3 (good health and well-being). SDG 3 (good health and well-being) was heavily influenced by progress on other SDGs in Somalia and making progress on SDG 3 (good health and well-being) positively influenced progress on all other SDGs.

Conclusion: The findings revealed that in Somalia, the interactions between the SDGs are mostly synergistic and that SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) has a strong influence on progress on other SDGs as well as progress on SDG 3 (good health and well-being). This study highlights the need for a multisectoral strategy to accelerate progress on the SDGs in Somalia in general, and particularly SDG 3 (good health and well-being).

Keywords: Health; Multi- sectoral collaboration; SDG linkages; Somalia; Sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Global Health*
Goals
Humans
Somalia
Sustainable Development*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding