…King to represent Eswatini in In SDG Summit in September
BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – The Minister of Economic Planning and Development Dr Thambo Gina launched an activity plan for the preparation of the 2023 UN-SDG Summit and the development of the 2023-2030 SDG Rescue Plan.
The plan will comprise consultations with key development stakeholders and it seeks to review where the country stands in terms of meeting the 2030 SDG targets and to understand what policy measures need to be put in place in order to rescue the SDGs that are at risk of not being met by 2030.
Worth mentioning is that Eswatini is committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and acknowledges the importance of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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The country has made strides towards creating an environment that enables the achievement of these goals by revising the National Development Strategy (Vision 2022) to incorporate emerging regional and global development issues. Since 2015, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has been working on the administrative stages of mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals into its Development Framework and got the opportunity to present its first-ever Voluntary National Review (VNR) on SDGs during the 2019 High-Level Political Forum.
The report derived from desk reviews and stakeholder consultations with ministries, civil society, the private sector, academia, donors, youth, women and persons living with disabilities. It has been presented at the local, regional, and international level.
Based on the country’s needs and priorities, the United Nations in Eswatini together with government counterparts in a collaborative and consultative manner designed the United Nations Development Framework (UNDAF) 2016-2020. The UNDAF aims at ensuring Government ownership and is aligned with Government priorities as defined in the National Development Strategy (Vision 2022).
Meanwhile, Dr Gina said, the priority areas in the UNDAF are also strongly aligned with the 17 SDGs. The UN in Eswatini and the Government are now working together on developing the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperative Framework (UNSDCF) for 2021-2025.
This review will inform the UN 2023 SDG Summit scheduled to take place in September 2023 in which Eswatini will be represented by the Head of State. The consultations will provide a platform for stakeholders to make their inputs in the development of the SDG Rescue Plan,” said Dr Gina.
He further said It was expected that the Summit will deliver a turning point for the SDGs by reigniting a sense of hope, optimism and enthusiasm that characterised the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015 and generate a surge of momentum that drives ambitious and transformative implementation efforts between now and 2030.
“National level preparation of the SDG Summit will include extensive stakeholder consultations which will be held at regional and national levels in the coming few weeks and will culminate in the production of the Eswatini SDG Rescue Plan covering the period 2023 to 2030,” said Gina.
