The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The UN office in Uganda is awaiting confirmation from the president to launch a youth innovative campaign for solutions to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals were adopted by United Nations member states in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
They focus more on achieving a world free of poverty and hunger, one with good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, climate action, peace, justice and strong institutions.
The United Nations (UN) resident coordinator Rosa Malango said that through the initiative, the UN will launch an innovative campaign of 1 million SDG solutions giving the youth a chance to showcase how they can solve the country’s development challenges.
Malango was speaking at the handover of the second Voluntary National Review Report on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Uganda to the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga by the Minister in Charge of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mary Karooro Okurut.
The Voluntary National Review encourages countries to conduct self-assessment to identify challenges and map strategic interventions for the progress of the goals. The report highlights the progress made in integrating and implementing SDGs in Uganda’s development planning frameworks.
Malango says the submission of the review report is a clear signal that Uganda embraces accountability to international frameworks. Uganda ranked 18 out of 52 African countries based on 97 indicators across all SDGs. The UN Resident Coordinator said that the country has an overall score of 54.8 per cent which is higher than the regional average of 52.7 percent.
Minister Okurut, who is cabinet’s focal person on SDGs, called for more support in Parliament especially in the promotion and adoption of people-centred policies and legislation to ensure that no one is left behind.
The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga praised Malango for having adamantly pushed the Prime Minister to ensure that Cabinet appointed a specific minister to oversee the implementation and achievement of SDG targets. She pledged to ensure that the budget process and oversight focuses on achieving the development agenda as outlined.
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