A
two-day workshop with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP) team on the 'SDG's Implementation Challenges and Framework for
Advancing 2030 Development Agenda in Pakistan commenced today.
The inaugural session was chaired by Deputy Chairman
Planning Commission, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, who stressed that Pakistan is fully
committed to the implementation of the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG's).
Deputy Chairman highlighted challenges of monitoring intelligently and
quantitatively as Pakistan has a backlog of MDGs in key areas of social sector.
He emphasized for efficiency of allocation of resources in these areas and need
to learn from others. Mr Sartaj Aziz mentioned the key role of communities,
non-government organizations and local administration in meaningful
implementation of sustainable development goals. He explained that Pakistan has
fortunate to have Vision 2025 which incorporated this important agenda in to a
national framework. Pakistan critically needs to focus on the areas of health,
education, poverty and climate change.
He maintained that democratic governance has historically
proved more responsive to the fulfillment of demands of the people. Pakistan
needs to prioritize the 2030 agenda in the local context. He appreciated that
federal SDG Unit in collaboration with provincial SDG Units is developing
national framework and localized goals and targets. Mr. Sartaj Aziz thanked
ESCAP for sending a team of experts to share regional experience with Pakistani
officials in implementing SDSGs agenda. Head of the ESCAP delegation Stefanos
Fotiou appreciated Pakistan’s keenness in achieving SDGs agenda and said
Pakistan is the first country to have a capacity building workshop. He said
Pakistan has made strides in localizing the SDGs agenda.
A team of UNESCAP visited
the Planning Commission and a workshop on “SDGs Implementation Challenges and
Framework for Advancing 2030 Development Agenda in Pakistan” is organized for
capacity building of officials of the federal and provincial governments. The
workshop has participation from all four provinces, 3 regions and various
federal government ministries.
