KUALA LUMPUR: The government takes a comprehensive approach involving government agencies, industries and local communities to ensure the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achieves the set targets, said Deputy Economy Minister Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib (pix).
She said the sustainable development goals, or SDGs, aim, among other things, to end all forms of poverty, fight inequality and overcome climate change by ensuring that no one is left behind.
“Among the measures that have been and are being taken by the government to ensure that the implementation of the SDGs can be applied at all levels of the government involved is by creating a comprehensive SDG management system.
“The highest administrative structure, the National SDG Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, set the direction for the implementation of the national SDG targets. The National SDG Council is supported by a steering committee and a technical authority,“ she said in response to a query at the upper house of parliament Dewan Negara today.
In addition, she said the administration was also supported by seven working committees to coordinate the planning, implementation and monitoring of the 17 SDGs in Malaysia.
“The national SDG centre also plays the role of being a ‘focal point’ in the implementation of the SDGs, including planning and coordinating SDG implementation efforts at the local level or ‘localisation’,“ she explained.
She added that the SDG monitoring system or SDG dashboard was also developed to collect data related to the achievement of each SDG indicator from various relevant ministries and departments.
For this purpose, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has been given the responsibility of coordinating data collection and preparing SDG evaluation reports on a timely basis.
“Several decisions were agreed during the meeting of the National SDG Council on Nov 7, 2023 to streamline and speed up the country’s sustainable development agenda in line with the 2030 Agenda,“ she said.
She added that for sustainable development under the United Nations (UN), one of the things that was decided was to appoint a lead ministry for each SDG to coordinate work to achieve the targets of each SDG set.
“These lead ministries are required to report on the progress of their respective goals every quarter; the first report must be made in the first quarter of 2024. For example, SDG 10 – reducing inequality – will be led by the Ministry of Finance,” she said.
Hanifah said the government is committed to achieving the 2030 Agenda and continues to strengthen actions to achieve the 17 SDGs.
“Commitment from all parties, including the federal government, state government, local authorities and other stakeholders is important to ensure Malaysia becomes a sustainable country by 2030,“ she said. –Bernama
