The private sector, civil society and educational institutions have been called upon to join government in its effort to scale up knowledge on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGSs) which were adopted late last year.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Zimbabwe United Nations Association (ZUNA), secretary for Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Dr Desire Sibanda said government had already embarked on a process of raising awareness on this Post -2015 agenda among key stakeholders who would be involved in its implementation as this will also assist in coming up with a position on the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
These SDGs follow closely at the heels of the Millennium Development Goals MDGs which Zimbabwe among other African countries did not manage to attain, skepticism has surrounded these 17 goals together with their 169 targets as to whether they are achievable noting that the 8 MDGs were not met .The 17 new goals however came with lessons learnt from the former and coupled with engagement with ordinary citizens which the MDGs lacked hope to achieve better results.
While stressing on the importance of all 17 goals which are ; 1 Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere ; 2 Ending hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture ; 3 Ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages ; 4 Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all ; 5 Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls; 6 Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all ; 7 Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all ; 8 Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all ; 9 Building resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation 10 Reducing inequality within and among countries ;11Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable ; 12 Ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns ; 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact; 14 Conserving and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development ; 15 Protecting, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss ;16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and lastly17building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels and Strengthening the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development .
“Government has decided to implement all the 17 SDGs as they are all important; however, in terms of focus and prioritization, 10 goals have been targeted. The fundamental basis for the rationale is that is the resource envelope is limited…” said Dr Sibanda.
Zimbabwe’s 10 priority goals include goal 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 13 and 17. These goals are said to represent the unfinished MDGs and their implementation hoped to trigger success in the other SDGs. Dr Sibanda said to date Government has come up with a country position paper and the domestication of these SDGs will also include alignment with the country’s ZIMASSET programme .
Speaking at the same occasion , Foreign Affairs Ambassador Mike Bimha said these SDGs do not exist in a vacuum as they were created with people at the centre as such require everyone’s full participation to make them a success.
“SDGs are people driven and the successful attainment of these by 2030 depends on how people apply their energies and commitment towards that objective. “He said.
UNDP economic advisor and country representative Amarakoon Bandara added to these sentiments saying the delivery of SDGs rested on the tripartite unity of the government, private sector and donors.
