Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 15 November (BelTA) - Belarus will definitely achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Sanaka Samarasinha said at the seminar “Sustainable Development Goals - implementation at the national and regional levels”, BelTA has learned.

According to Sanaka Samarasinha, Belarus achieved almost all Millennium Development Goals by 2015, despite some pessimistic expectations. The country has a good potential to move forward. “I see the commitment of Belarus to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals since this work began a long time ago. By January 2016, when the SDGs officially came into force, we held a large campaign Express UN-70. Every region signed a declaration of commitment to the SDGs. In addition to the post of national coordinator Belarus has even setup the Council for Sustainable Development which works on four tracks. Belarus’ official report on the progress towards achieving the SDGs received positive feedback from other members of the United Nations,” Sanaka Samarasinha said.

He stressed that Belarus has a high human development index. Coupled with the serious approach of the government, all the structures which have been established in the country and the conditions that were initially laid out, this gives guarantees that all the objectives and indicators of the SDGs will be achieved.

“We must do everything so that no one is left without attention. To cover all groups that are at risk, we need to know their needs. For that we need the reliable data, robust monitoring mechanisms. It is necessary to ensure the access of vulnerable groups to services of the same quality enjoyed by all other population groups,” Sanaka Samarasinha noted.

To achieve the SDGs, funding is necessary as the resources of the states are not enough, Sanaka Samarasinha said. “Here I see a significant role for the private sector. The second important area is innovation. What technologies will be used in 2025? It is the private sector that knows it better. The third area is young people. How will the world look like in the future? We will not be able to ensure its stability if we fail to take into account the views of young people who will live in the future. And finally, all countries of the world must work together. For example, Goal No. 17 is about partnership. Each country has accumulated a huge potential and experience. Here the UN will play an important unifying role and help the countries exchange this experience,” Sanaka Samarasinha noted.

The seminar “Sustainable Development Goals - implementation at the national and regional levels” is running Minsk on 15 November. The seminar focuses on the development of the national system of indicators to monitor the SDGs, their implementation in the economic, environmental and social fields, the main approaches to the national strategy for sustainable socio-economic development of Belarus in the context of the SDGs. The publication “Belarus’ starting positions with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals” and the national versions of the UN SDG logos were unveiled during the event.

The seminar will be held as part of the program “Support to the National Coordinator on Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and Strengthening the Role of the Parliament in the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals” which is financed by the UN Development Program. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the national executing agency. The project partners are the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly and the National Statistics Committee of Belarus.