Finance and Economic Development Minister Kenneth Matambo has said that the success of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda depends largely on “our strong commitment and leadership” to accelerate implementation and ensure the attainment of all set goals and targets.
Speaking at the Regional-United Nations Development Group meeting this week, Matambo highlighted that the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals set out a very bold global agenda aimed at responding to the highly volatile and unpredictable challenges that confront humanity today.
He urged member states to come up with ground-breaking ideas that consider their specificities such as middle income, least developed and landlocked developing country status. Only then he says can all member states benefit from the ‘value addition of the UN’.
“This will require us all to come up with innovative tools and instruments to assist us in monitoring and evaluating our progress for effective implementation,” he said.
The Joint Regional United Nations Meeting meet comprised United Nations Regional leaders from Central, East, South and West Africa; Under the theme, ‘Taking forward the SDGs through the prism of the 2016 Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR)’.
He said the United Nations Development Group is expected to efficiently coordinate operations to enable users to effectively support each other. Ambassador of the European Delegation to Botswana and SADC, Alexander Baum stated that the existence of the SDGs has now given member states a clear sense of direction, which will benefit future generations.
“We should collectively go as a world community if we want to head for a better future for ourselves and the future generations.” However, Buam said the responsibility to take countries forward rests with governments concerned and should not be externalised to the international community.
“Through debates in Europe, we recognise that middle income countries (MICs) face challenges that demand continuous engagement with the international community.” He also said the very same countries then need support to achieve the SDGs in their own ambitions. “The question then becomes which support and how can we support them,” he asked.
Baum shared that the European Union (EU) has concluded that they must focus on exchange of knowledge, transfer of skills, giving inspiration, ideas and experiences. “This still requires money, but less when compared to the approach of mainly transferring resources and parachuting technical assistance,” he said.
He urged member states to be open to such debates on what is required to move ahead, accept the need for learning while international community must be open to adapt to new approaches and instruments.