Ashraf Ansari
In what could be a significant step towards achieving SDGs and national development agenda in Pakistan, lawmakers representing major political parties from Senate, National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies recognizing the importance of achieving SDGs joined hands on Thursday and vowed to lead the process for generating a national response for achieving SDGs.
The legislators had gathered at the First National Legislators’ Conclave, on Financing Sustainable Development Goals. The conclave was organized by Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
Apart from Speaker National Assembly, Mr. Asad Qaiser, MNAs Ms. Kanwal Shuzeb Parliamentary Secretary MoPD/R, Dr. Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary MoHealth, Syed Naveed Qamar, Ahsan Iqbal, Dr. Nafeesa Shah, Mujahid Ali, Javed Hasnain, Sahibzada Kamal ud Din, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Syed Javaid Husnain and, the participants included Punjab MPAs Mohsin Khan Leghari, Rana Munawar Ghuas, Aisha Nawaz, Sadia Sohail Rana and Raheela Khadim Hussain; Sindh MPAs Rashid Khan Khilji, Rabia Azfar and Barrister Hasnain Ali Mirza; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MPAs Taj Muhammad, Humaira Khatoon and Zeenat Bibi; and Balochistan MPAs Nasrullah Khan Zayrai, Abdul Wahid Saddiqui, and Bushra Rind.
Mr. Mohsin Khan Leghari Convener National Caucus, Minister Irrigation Government of Punjab, while opening the proceedings, said that since we do not have any defined yardstick to measure the parameters effecting core issues our economy is trapped in, the conclave informed all the participants of the key challenges faced in financing sustainable development. He stressed the need for a continuous efforts by the legislators for achieving SGDs. He stressed that it is high time to recognize the key role of private sector in supporting and assisting governments in meeting the national development targets.
In context of private sector’s role in financing sustainable development, explained I-SAPS Research Fellow Ahmad Ali, among the challenges that we are facing, resource constraint such as, the financial flows, their inconsistency, delays in fund release, are the biggest challenges in achieving SDGs.
