Call for engaging civil society to attain sustainable development goals

Without engaging local communities and civil society organisations, the government cannot achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations for 2030.

This was said at the recently held annual national awards ceremony at the head office of HANDS, a non-government organisation. The ceremony’s slogan was ‘Connecting Communities to 2030’.

Dr Abdul Ghaffar Billo, philanthropist and founder of HANDS, said they had strong economic support from all the provincial governments, especially Sindh, as well as international development partners, including Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) United Kingdom and USAID.

“We hope that this cooperation will continue with even more strength and collaboration in the years to come”, he said.

The event was conducted to highlight the importance of SDGs and how they could be attained with a holistic and inclusive approach at the grassroots level.

Dr Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed, the HANDS chief executive, shed light on the history of the organisation and its activities since 1979. He mentioned the importance of key partners and a cumulative vision that may help Pakistan to achieve the imperative milestones of the SDGs.

Annabel Gerry, development director in Pakistan for the FCDO, said the UK was fully committed to strengthening the partnership with Pakistan in difficult times. She said there had been a strong relationship between HANDS and the FCDO in terms of not only humanitarian response but also in health and education sectors in the country, reaching almost 1.2 million most vulnerable people in the disaster-prone areas.

The USAID director for Sindh and Balochistan, James Parys, congratulated HANDS on the event held to emphasise the work to be done for communities to achieve the SDGs.

Sindh Social Welfare Secretary Roshan Sheikh said Pakistan had unique challenges because of its critical geopolitical situation that had an impact on its development pace. He said that even though the country had moved forward and achieved many milestones, it remained short of reaching optimum levels as of commitments under the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

“Now the 2030 development agenda under the SDGs is in front of us. The Sindh government is very focused and committed to achieving the milestones agreed under the SDGs 2030”, he explained.

The event recommended providing access to basic amenities and services like adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, water and sanitation and a peaceful environment to the people so that they may live with dignity. The participants also called for including the opinions of public in decision making and in the execution of policies and strategies. The event also stressed the need for respecting the right to have easy, timely, and affordable access to justice.