Despite slow progress on the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, Canada is beginning to answer the call, says social work professor Filipe Duarte.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has severely hampered the government’s efforts, meeting these 17 goals remains a priority for prime minister Justin Trudeau, Dr. Filipe writes in an article published Monday in the Conversation, which shares news and views from the academic and research community.

“Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada is pursuing its international policy on sustainable development and scoring points on the world stage by leading the global support for recovery after COVID-19,” he writes.

A global index ranking countries’ performance found that Canada has to date achieved only one of the measures — quality education — and faces significant challenges on a number of fronts.

“The data is staggering,” concludes Filipe. “Canada must take action on all the other goals.”