LEAD for SDGs and National Assembly of Pakistan’s Secretariat on SDGs conducted a successful National Dialogue on the Localisation of SDGs
Islamabad (16th February 2023) LEAD for SDGs in partnership with the National Assembly of Pakistan’s SDGs Secretariat arranged an all-day National Dialogue on the localization of the SDGs. This dialogue was attended by Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Hon. Members of the National, Provincial and Legislative Assemblies, Representation from the European Union, Government Officials, Officials from the Local Governments and Civil Society Organisations. The event was co-financed by the Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan and the United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific.
The National Dialogue on Localization of SDGs has successfully culminated with the delivery of essential debates to establish the effective role of Parliamentary Taskforces on SDGs in the localisation of SDGs by facilitating the local governments to plan, execute and monitor the progress.
The Dialogue was inaugurated by Hon. Romina Khurshid Alam, SAPM / Convener National Parliamentary Taskforce. In her opening remarks, she warmly welcomed the participants and praised the vision behind organizing the National Dialogue – to chalk out an inclusive and practical roadmap for the implementation of the global goals with the ownership of all tiers of the society.
Mr. Sven Ruesch, Acting Head of the European Union Cooperation congratulated the organizers for bringing all relevant stakeholders to one table with the agenda to localize the global goals. He upholds the active role of the LEAD for SDGs Project in the amplification of the achievement of SDGs through enhancing the capacity of Local Governments in Sindh and Balochistan. He re-affirmed the EU’s cooperation around the devolution of the SDGs framework in Pakistan.
The Hon. Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf closed the session, he asserted “SDGs in Pakistan can never be fully achieved without the ownership of local governments.” He reaffirms that Local level revenue generation should be guaranteed. He urges to support of the Local Councils Association network across Pakistan and applauded the platform for arranging a coordinated effort to gather national, provincial and local level elected members on one platform for ensuring prolific discussion stimulant to sustainable and effective governance at all tiers.
The National Dialogue was divided into three technical sessions which discussed crucial topics, such as Parliamentary oversight of the SDGs, local-level reporting on SDGs and identifying the role of local governments in achieving the agenda 2030. The productive discussions contributed to devising an all-inclusive approach ahead as the roadmap for localizing the SDGs in Pakistan.
The outcomes of the National Dialogue focused on the increased capacity of Provincial Parliamentary Taskforces to understand their role and effective service delivery. It was suggested that the Voluntary National Review of the country should be linked and integrated with local-level reviews (VLR), with easy adoption of available data tools such as PSLM Surveys, to report data from a local standpoint. Local-level revenue generation should be guaranteed to achieve functional machinery for data collection, monitoring and reporting on SDGs. Furthermore, more effortless, and frequent coordination among National and Provincial Parliamentary Taskforces on SDGs should be ensured.
