Minister calls for collective efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Aamer Mehmood Kiani Thursday called for collective efforts of all stakeholders to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“It is important to recall that SDGs are not just an additional plan, but a shared vision of the world as these form the basis of a new social contract between the leaders and their people,” he said while addressing the third Surgeon General International Conference.

He said environmental and geostrategic changes were so profound and rapid that no country could stand alone. The 2030 Agenda recognized the change by moving beyond a strategy, to just develop poor countries to a universal plan applicable to all, he said.

Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General Assembly: “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” That has been shortened to “2030 Agenda.”

The minister said working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals was more than a matter of policy being one of necessity. But, realization of this agenda would require a fundamental shift in strategy, at all levels, he added.

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He said some of the reasons for the failure to achieve those goals in the past included the lack of adequate planning, the absence of a multi-sectorial approach and the scarcity of data for monitoring progress.

As a first step towards the development of this roadmap, the state could organize a national forum that would bring together all relevant sectors to discuss current roles, analyze strengths and weaknesses, identify ways to track progress and convert it into a collective national vision, he said.

“The goals, at first, may seem a distinct possibility however; I believe that they are achievable. The necessary pre-requisite is to have a dream, second is to lay the path while third is the resolve to overcome the obstacles.”

Aamer Kiani expressed the hope that foreign delegates take home memorable experiences, and capitalize on the outcome of this interaction for subsequent collaborations.