DHAKA, Dec 9, 2019 (BSS) – The third South Asia Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Government of Bangladesh on Sunday opened a forum, underscoring the need for accelerated action to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Bangladesh government, think-tank and civil society participants from eight South Asian countries noted with 25 percent of world’s population, the sub-region has a larger share of 36 percent of all people living in extreme poverty and hunger in the globe.
Principal Coordinator for SDG Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh, Abul Kalam Azad highlighted that the Forum provided a great opportunity to all the South-Asian countries to share their experiences, and to discuss how to overcome the challenges and strengthen the means of implementation.
Director of ESCAP South and South-West Asia Office Nagesh Kumar dwelt on the need for accelerated action for achieving SDGs in South Asia, said a press release here today.
Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Government of Bangladesh Monowar Ahmed highlighted the ambitious nature of the SDGs, which cannot be achieved in isolation and need strong regional cooperation among all stakeholders and actors.
The UN Resident Coordinator of Bangladesh, Mia Seppo, drew attention to the considerable challenges related to climate change and resilience.
One of the greatest challenges has been eradicating all forms of poverty and reducing all forms of violence and conflicts, she said.
Seppo highlighted further that many sections of the people are marginalized and vulnerable with differential access to common resources.
The Forum serves as the South Asia sub regional preparatory process for the 7th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) to be held in March 2020.