Despite policy commitments and development efforts, many Malawians continue to experience limited access to basic services and economic opportunities.
This is according to the 2025 Civil Society’s Reality Check on Malawi’s SDGS Implementation.
The report notes that the recent SDG Index (2025) places Malawi around rank 139/167 with a score of approximately 57, signaling colossal shortfalls in poverty, hunger, education quality, infrastructure, and governance.
Reads the report in part: “The low ranking underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions, strengthened accountability, and accelerated implementation across critical sectors to get Malawi back on track towards the 2030 Agenda.
“The frameworks are expansive. The execution in relation to financing, local delivery, and accountability is the binding constraint.”
The civil society observes that while policies and plans are well-articulated, their translation into tangible results at district and community levels remains weak as gaps in resource allocation, institutional capacity, and citizen engagement continue to limit the effectiveness of SDG implementation.
From 2015 to date, progress across the 17 SDGs has been uneven and fragile, with some goals showing momentum while others stagnate or even regress.
The 2023 SDG Acceleration Report, supported by UNDP, and the annual progress report for MIP-1 (2023 and 2024) identify five goals (2, 3, 4, 6, and 14) as registering substantial progress, while six others (5, 7, 8, 9, 13, and 17) are at moderate levels.
However, Malawi continues to lag in SDGs 1, 10, and 15, which show little or no progress, and faces persistent data gaps for SDGs 11, 12, and 16, making monitoring difficult.
The purpose of the SDGs, which have a deadline of 2030, is to provide a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
The country began domesticating the SDGs through the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III (2017/22) and later in the Malawi 2063, currently being implemented under the First 10-year Implementation Plan (MIP-1).
Economics Association of Malawi president Bertha Bangara-Chikadza earlier observed that when SDGs are off-track, the MIP-1 dashboard, which continues to track progress while showing the reality on the ground, also reveals the reality of the country’s development.
“Therefore, there are serious spillovers between failing to attain SDGs and failing to attain MIP-1 and also MW2063; because this also entails missing on the trajectory that was to transform us by 2030,” she said.
