Sindh govt to collaborate with all stakeholders to meet Sustainable Development Goals

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led governments in Sindh enhanced the budgetary allocation for development from Rs55 billion in 2008-09 to Rs274 billion in 2017-18 in order to uplift the lives of people, create jobs for them and ensure their well-being.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said this on Thursday as he attended a dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) organised by a task force headed by MPA Pir Mujeeb in collaboration with the provincial government’s SDGs unit at a local hotel.

The SGDs are a total of 17 goals regarding global sustainable development which have been set by the United Nations for 2030. The CM said it was important to take measures to meet the SDGs as they had a direct bearing on the uplift of peoples’ lives and livelihoods.

He added that in order to achieve the SDGs and their related targets, it was crucial to engage high-level political forums to mobilise public institutions and develop coordination among them. “Though Sindh has taken many initiatives to achieve the SDGs, we realise that the holistic achievement of the SDGs is only possible if the SDGs are integrated with the ongoing provincial planning processes.”

“Given the wider scope of the SDGs and the increased number of targets and indicators, there is a strong need for political will and the active participation of all the key government agencies to implement the SDGs at national and sub-national levels,” Shah said and added that the SDGs could be achieved successfully by reinforcing policies across government departments and agencies.

Giving an overview of the Annual Development Plan (ADP) in Sindh, the CM said it was Rs55 billion in 2008-09 which was increased by the PPP government to Rs161 billion in 2012-13 and then again to Rs274 billion in 2017-18.

“These funds include the development allocation for district plans, which was Rs12 billion in 2008-09 and was increased to Rs30 billion in 2017-18,” Shah maintained.

He said development was not merely a technical issue and neither was this purely an apolitical process. “I am of the view that SDGs cannot be achieved without making some key political decisions aimed at critical public policy rethinking coupled with enhanced political ownership of the SDGs framework,” he remarked and suggested that communities should identify political pathways through which progress towards sustainable development could be made possible.

Shah was of the view that with the social sector devolved to the provinces, there was a need for developing robust mechanisms at sub-national and inter-provincial levels to mainstream SDGs in the existing sectoral planning through the ADPs and long-term budgetary frameworks. “In this regard, a much needed localisation of SDGs is possible through a decentralised political response to lingering development deficits at local and sub-national levels.”

He called for close coordination among political parties and parliamentary forums to mainstream the SDGs in the existing budgetary and allocation frameworks which were largely influenced and determined by political decision-making.

The CM said his government, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and other development partners, was focusing on three areas leading to informed policy making and pro-people development paradigm.

The first area pertained to giving technical support to the planning, implementation and monitoring of SDGs-related interventions in Sindh. The second area of attention was communication support to bring the SDGs as a key point of reference in Sindh government's policy communication, while the third area into focus was strengthening of partnerships between the Sindh government and development actors for social sector development.

The CM said the ultimate purpose of political engagement was to create broad-based ownership of the SDGs and an informed and influenced resource allocation in line with the SDGs framework. “However, this does not happen in isolation from the technical backstopping and without making a business case for public and private sector investments,” he said.

Shah said the provision of targeted technical support would significantly help translate the political ownership and engagement into actual policy and financial decisions. He informed the event that the SDGs Support Unit had already identified tools under the mainstreaming, accelerating, and policy support (MAPS) approach for localising the SDGs in Sindh. “In order to create a corresponding relationship between political ownership and technical backstopping, it is important that prioritised sectors and concerned departments are provided with baselines and targets to inform the budgetary frameworks of the government,” he said.

Shah reiterated the commitment of his government to work in close collaboration in this regard with all the political parties having representation in the Sindh Assembly, members of the parliamentary task force, development partners of Sindh, distinguished civil society representatives, members of the business community, experts, community-based organisations, and the media. Others who spoke on the occasion included Khawaja Izhar, Shahnaz Wazir Ali and Qaiser Bengali.