Report assessing govt’s commitment launched towards implementation of SDGs
Heads of state adopting the resolution on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and state governments, have agreed to prioritise the SDGs in their national developmental agenda and to participate in the regular monitoring of progress.
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They have also committed themselves to invest in the areas of intervention, including statistical development, to ensure their full participation and effectiveness in the monitoring systems, both nationally and internationally, and to build on the lessons learnt from the implementation of the MDGs.
Development strategies
This is for the effective incorporation of the SDGs into their countries’ development strategies, particularly the long-term national development plans.
In this direction, a civil society organisation (CSO), Caritas Ghana, has launched a report that assesses government’s commitment and efforts towards the successful implementation of the SDGs.
The report highlights structures at the national level and initiatives that are useful for sustaining national momentum, which includes the level of consultation and involvement of relevant stakeholders. It also identifies the opportunities and gaps in the country’s effort towards the effective implementation of the post-2015 Development Agenda.
The document is captioned, “Bringing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to life in Ghana, an Assessment Report on Implementation Status.”
Expectations of SDGs
While acknowledging the initiatives of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), the report urged the commission to strengthen and improve the capacity of state agencies and stakeholder institutions to be effective in the implementation process for mutual learning and accountability for better results.
At the launch in Accra last Thursday, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, underscored the need for individuals, and stakeholders to be informed on the expectations of the SDGs, so that they could correct the imbalances from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“The SDGs are not considered to have been met if those who are most vulnerable and hard to reach are not included in the expected gains,” he explained.
Mr Akologo urged policy makers to put in place pragmatic measures in addressing the needs of individuals including the physically challenged, and residents of impoverished communities, “by adopting an integrated approach and ensuring that policy decision-making involves diverse stakeholders.”
Integrated measures
Launching the document, the Deputy Director, Plan Coordinating Division of the NDPC, Mr Adjei-Fosu Kwaku, said the NDPC had put up integrated measures for institutions and agencies to collaborate towards the achievment of the SDGs.
“The NDPC has formed a SDGs implementation coordination team which has supported 60 ministries and sector agencies and 216 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to align their existing medium-term development plans under the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA II, 2012-2017), especially the 2017 annual budget action plans budget of SDGs.
