Wed, 30 Nov 2016 09:29:29 +0000
THE burden of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2063 should not be left to Government alone but should be a shared responsibility among all stakeholders, says Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Mwale. Mr Mwale said this yesterday in Lusaka during a multi-stakeholder dialogue on China’s engagement with Zambia, that opportunities existed for achieving the SDGs and Agenda 2063 by ensuring that there were close linkages in the spirit of partnership and multi-stakeholder participation from the private sector, civil society and development partners.
He noted that both the SDGs and the Agenda 2063 were both adopted in 2015, hence they had some similarities in terms of goals and intended to achieve sustained and inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication and structural transformation of Africa’s economies. Therefore there was need to formulate and streamline them with line Government ministries. “The burden of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 should not be left to the Government alone but should be a shared responsibility. I hope this gathering will provide workable policy choices that could help Zambia and Africa on how best to achieve the SDGs and Agenda 2063,” he said.
Mr Mwale, who is Local Government minister, said that there should be follow-up consultations among the Ministry of National Planning, line Government ministries and departments to ensure deeper understanding of both agendas and their synergies which needed to take into account the three dimensions of social, economic and sustainable development. He said that there was need for increased awareness on how the SDGs and Agenda 2063 were related in order to ensure effective implementation of both programmes. Mr Mwale observed that both agendas were inspiring but posed a challenge in that Agenda 2063 had seven aspirations, 30 goals and 35 priority areas, 171 national targets 85, continental targets and 246 indicators while the SDGs comprised 17 goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators.
Speaking at the same event, Chinese ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming affirmed his country’s continued support to Zambia’s development and the continued warm bilateral relations, stating that this was evident in the mining and construction sectors of the economy. Mr Yang said that China had so far given Zambia over U$3 billion in various development projects and expressed confidence that the amount was likely to increase. The SDG number one goal as enshrined in the United Nations charter aims to fight poverty at all levels as well as in all its forms.
