Country aims to track SDGs well this time around

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, October 2, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

AS the country failed to achieve all 8 of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals- the national government aims to track the new Sustainable Development Goals set to be achieved by 2030.

When asked about debate at the UN General assembly regarding the SDGs and PNG’s strategy to achieve them- Minister for Foreign Affairs Rimbink Pato said PNG did well despite not achieving goals, with current efforts tracking well.

“We explained how Papua New Guinea is tracking- we had a very good report from the United Nations Development Program office in Port Moresby.”

“That report was outstanding in terms of the work that Papua New Guinea is doing towards achieving the sustainable development goals.”

“The sustainable development goals are really merged if you like in terms of our 2050 vision, also entrenched in our Medium to Long Term Strategy,” Pato said.

He reiterated that not all countries were able to achieve the previous millennium development goals and now the sustainable development goals.

“There is a program of action underway so we can report. And the UN systems are working very closely with us- so they have a mechanism to track with the different goals as they arise for implementation under those 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

“Some of them relate to our region in particular and some of them we pushed for example sustainable development goal number 14 which relates to the protection and management of the oceans.”

“Again it bogs down to the issue of capacity, the issue of accessibility and understanding and networking so that we can benefit and at the same time that then gives rise to how we are tracking in terms of implementation or achievement of those goals.”