The government yesterday hosted a review at St Igna-tius Village, Region Nine of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The SDGs encompass 17 objectives including no poverty, zero hunger, clean water and sanitation and good health and well-being and are intended to be achieved by 2030.
A release from the Ministry of Finance said that Senior Finance Minis-ter Dr Ashni K. Singh and the Ministry of Finance together with other ministers hosted a Hinterland Stakeholder Consultation on the Presentation of Guyana’s second Voluntary National Review (VNR) of the SDGs.
It said that 24 Village Leaders and approximately 150 persons were able to meet and review Guyana’s progress in effecting its Sustainable Development Agenda. The release said that the VNR allows for the input of all stakeholders including persons in riverain and hinterland communities and yesterday’s consultation saw presentations made by various sectors.
They examined mainly five of the SDGs: Goal 6 – Potable Water, Water Sanitation and Harvesting Water, Goal 7 – Renewable Energy and Access to Energy, Goal 9 – Infra-structure Industry and Innovation, Goal 11 – Cities and Municipalities, Housing, Disaster Risk Management and Pre-paredness and Goal 17 – Means and Implementation of the SDGs.
The release said that the 2030 Agenda for Sustain-able Development outlines a transformative vision for economic, social and environmental development and that the government has continuously reaffirmed its commitment to advancing its implementation. Under the leadership of President Irfaan Ali, the administration has been preparing its review with focus placed on five of the SDGs in preparation for the upcoming SDG Sum-mit to be held in September 2023.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai who addressed the gathering said Guyana is the only country in the world where whenever there are new issues on the table that Government brings the people together to sit down, inform and discuss as well as garner their contributions and have them participate in the process.
During the engagement, the release said that persons in attendance were able to seek answers while the forum also sought to provide an opportunity for active discussion on longstanding challenges and the country’s vulnerability in terms of fighting climate change as well as external shocks.
