-As Liberia prepares for Global SDGs New York Summit
By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson I
The government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance has provided the national strategic development plan that seeks to positively impact Liberia for the next seven years.
The national development plan was derived in a two-dayNational validation on the Commitment for the Acceleration and Transformation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
National validation on the Commitment for the Acceleration and Transformation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which seeks to prepare Liberia for the upcoming global #SDGs Summit was completed by the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), with support from the United Nations in Liberia.
The consultation and validation exercise which was held at the Monrovia City-Hall on September 6-8, was intended to prepare Liberia report on the progress, challenges, and opportunities in the implementation of its #SDGs. The workshop also seeked to address SDGs priority areas, including the bench mark on poverty and equality to propose, strength institutions to deliver the SDGs and means of Implemention, monitoring and reporting.
The workshop was held under the theme “Amplifying the Voices and Actions for SDGs and Committing to Inclusive and Sustainable Transformation for Shared Prosperity”.
During the first day of the consultation held Wednesday, September 7, 2023, technocrats from various governmentMinistries, Agencies, Commissions, as well as civil society organizations, began the process of developing an #SDGs Acceleration Roadmap, highlighting a set of commitments to deliver over the next seven years up to 2030, which is expected to be presented at the #SDGs Summit.
The discussions facilitated by a technical working group from the MFDP and a national consultant, supported by the UN in Liberia and led by UNDP Liberia, centered on the issues of political will, planning, data, resource mobilization, peace and development, investments, domestication, food security, building blocks, deliberate and intentional approaches and actions, budget and finance, ownership, accountability, monitoring and reporting, collaboration and partnership, reforms as well as social protection systems among others.
During the the last day of the symposium on September 8, 2023, participants were divided into three group, constituting two sessions, with one session on the feedback on the draft roadmap document which saw participants discussing key interventions and requirements for the roadmap.
Session two focused on reporting back to the plenary and recommendation for inclusion evolving focus areas for SDGs Acceleration and Transformation. During this session,participants discussed key interventions from recommended key selectors to be emphasized in the roadmap, consideringgovernment priorities.
Group one dialogued on Acceleration Actions for effective accountable and transparent institutions and scaling up actions on key transitions to accelerate SDGs progress, including mobilizing finance and investment through partnership.
At the same time, group two dialogued on Acceleration for social protection systems including financial framework and partnership strategic and scaling up actions on key transitions to achieve the SDGs in Liberia.
In conclusion the various groups recommended that in order for Liberia to achieve the SDGs Acceleration and Transformation Roadmap, the country should make digital transformation work for all, adopt a life long learning course for essential services and invest in peace.
They also recommended that Liberia should accelerate access to energy for all and shifts to renewable energy, secured food, water and sanitation system, protect biodiversity and natural resources and prevent new and reduce existing vulnerabilities.
On behalf of development partners, Mr. Louis Kuukpen,
Deputy Resident Representative UNDP hailed Liberia for the two-day intensive validation.
He said that if that, Liberia’s has a better and stronger case to make during the UN summit in New York, which he believes will attract development and opportunity to Liberia.
“We are committed to support Liberia and we want to thank you for the validation process. We all have identified our weakness and strength with strategic recommendation on Liberia’s achievement towards the SDG” he concluded.
Also, Minster Augusta Flomo appreciated all for the participation, especially development partners, and added that Liberia is prepare to achieve more from the SDGs.
