Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 19 December (BelTA) – The architecture built in Belarus to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is impressive, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Sanaka Samarasinha told the media in Minsk on 19 December, BelTA has learned.

Sanaka Samarasinha noted that “the international community is impressed with the system to achieve the SDGS built in Belarus. It covers all participants and guarantees the achievement of the goals. In Belarus the process involves not only the national level but also the regions where a corresponding architecture has been built as well.

The UN resident coordinator is convinced that no country in the world can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on its own. “The United Nations will facilitate the dialogue between Belarus and the international partners. We also believe it is important to develop partnerships inside the country with civil society organizations, the private sector and Parliament,” he said.

Sanaka Samarasinha pointed out that Belarus has fulfilled almost all the Millennium Development Goals. Now Belarus is embarking upon the path of achieving the SDGs. The country has established the institute of the national coordinator for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. A government agency has been put in charge of the work to achieve every of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Council for Sustainable Development was set up to work in the main areas of the SDGs, including the economic, social and environmental dimensions.

At the open hearings in Belarus' parliament to discuss the partnership between the branches of power as a prerequisite for the successful achievement of the SDGs, Sanaka Samarasinha laid out the UN approaches to the role of the parliament in achieving the SDGs.

Attending the parliamentary hearings are members of the Council of the Republic, MPs of the House of Representatives, heads of national government bodies, members of the Council for Sustainable Development, representatives of the diplomatic corps and public organizations. The key item on the agenda is the achievement of the SDGs in the economic, environmental and social areas of Belarus, including through public-private partnership mechanisms.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted on 25 September 2015. It includes 17 goals aimed at eliminating poverty, inequality and injustice, and also addressing climate change.