Overview of Sustainable Development


Sustainable development has been defined in different ways by different scholars. I have defined sustainable development as an 'efficient use of available resources to adequately meet present needs of the people as institutionalizing a mechanism to ensure adequate provisions for their descendants'

According to Brundtland Commission which coined the word, “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Central to this definition is the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, most of which are in the Sub-Saharan Africa, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by Social, Institutional, Economical and Environmental dimensions on the state’s ability to meet present and future needs

Most discussions around sustainable development have been centered on the economy, the society and the environment, and how the latter affects the duo earlier mentioned. In recent time especially in the West African region, it has come out strongly that most of the countries in the region are underdeveloped as a result of inadequate institutions to harness the economic, societal and environmental potentials as well as provide a way out on challenges facing each of them.

This blog site would be featuring issues relating to these four essential elements of sustainable development  - Society, Economy, Environment and Institutions. The blog will prioritize examination of these issues in West African region.

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