Sustainable development goals in lower-middle income economy: Relevancy and outlook in Cameroon

Since 2000 the United Nations had adopted two major global agendas namely the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. The latter is expected to entail the covering of larger landscape involving 17 goals that enclose economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. However in realizing these goals, nations do not start at equal line given their delay or advancement in term of development making therefore some of them closer or much farer away of achievement's point. Hence this research aims at analysing if lower-middle income country like Cameroon is on right pathway to achieve the 2030 agenda relatively to poverty ending and shared prosperity within short prescribed deadline and considering the huge institutional, political, economic, sociocultural and environmental challenges it has to address purposely. In this regards, a documentary research concerning the topic have been carried out, drawn mostly from official policy documents, reports as well as articles and an interview guide was applied to respondents working in various sectors of civil society across the country allowing to gather their inherent expert's insights. Collected data have been analysed systematically and thematically using the qualitative method of content analysis over several aspects of research namely extreme poverty, social poverty, social protection (social safety nets), basic services as well as shared prosperity. The findings and interpretations have put into evidence that the country is unlikely to achieve targets on poverty ending and social inequality reduction by 2030 notwithstanding expected relative positive trend concerning social poverty and social protection (social safety nets). Likewise they have shown that the concerned UN global targets are worthy to get implemented in Cameroon considering their higher ambition comparing to existing national targets. They outline also issue of relevancy regarding adopted thresholds (extreme poverty's international threshold and minimum wage) which are set to measure extreme poverty and social poverty proposing instead multidimensional approach. Throughout the conclusion, recommendations have been made in order to improve the pace of mentioned targets' achievement, especially concerning the funding strategies of sustainable development undermined heavily by neo-colonialist system while integrating also Cameroon's historical background.