The Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Economic Research Institute (ERI), held a series of seminars aimed at involving stakeholders and citizens in promoting the Agenda for Sustainable Development. The events were held in a number of cities, including Almaty, Semey, Aktau, Astana, Zhezkazgan, Petropavlovsk, Kyzylorda, as well as other regions of the country.

The purpose of the seminars is to exchange views on the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), identify priority areas taking into account public opinion, identify current regional problems, search for sustainable solutions, and develop proactive measures for their implementation. Special attention is paid to the involvement of all categories of the population in the process of preparing the third Voluntary National Review of Kazakhstan.

The events were attended by deputy akims of regions and representatives of state bodies, deputies of maslikhats, representatives of civil society and the business sector.

Participants of the meetings emphasized the importance of integrating national SDG indicators into strategic and program documents at the local level, as well as systematic planning of steps for their implementation. In her speech, Director of the department for the development of the social sphere, law enforcement and special bodies of the MNE Nurgul Zhannazarova noted that the creation of regional institutional mechanisms is of great importance for improving the quality of life of the population and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Local executive bodies play a key role in the implementation of the Agenda until 2030, and priority areas of the review are formed taking into account the opinions of various groups of society. She added that achieving the SDGs is a common task, and we must qualitatively prepare the Review.

During the discussions, participants voiced concrete proposals to strengthen monitoring of SDG implementation. Thus, seminar participants proposed to include a separate block on SDGs in the National Development Plan and regional plans within the framework of project offices, which will allow systematically tracking the impact of implemented projects on achieving the SDGs. In addition, it is also proposed to create a national digital platform for collecting and analyzing data on SDGs.

It should be reminded that in july of this year, Kazakhstan will present its third Voluntary National Review at the high-level political forum in New York, along with 39 countries.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/economy/press/news/details/966371?lang=kk