Government focuses on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Dili, January 18th, 2017
Government focuses on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
The Prime Minister, H.E. Dr. Rui Maria de Araújo, along with with the leaders of Brazil, Columbia, Germany, Liberia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania and Tunisia, has written to the incoming Secretary-General of the United Nations, on behalf of the High-Level Group in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The letter, sent on the 30th of December, congratulates H.E. Mr. António Guterres, on his election, declares the commitment of the group to help maintain “political support” for implementation, speaks of concrete actions being carried out domestically by members and calls for “the effective and universal implementation of the Agenda 2030” to be a “top priority” in the Secretary-General’s "tenure at the helm of the Organization”
The Sixth Constitutional Government is committed the implementation of the new United Nations Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. In September 2015 the Council of Ministers passed a resolution recognizing the importance of the SDGs, committing to working towards their achievement and establishing a SDG Working Group, led by the Office of the Prime Minister. In New York at the launch of the 2030 Agenda Timor-Leste stepped up into an important role championing implementation as a part of the High-Level Group.
Since that time efforts have been made to prioritize the goals for implementation in Timor-Leste, integrate them into planning and to provide a strong monitoring framework to assess progress. The Working Group is in the process of harmonizing the 2030 Agenda with Timor-Leste’s national development framework, the Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030. The Working Group has recommended that the Government focuses on goals in various stages with the initial focus on goals 2 [nutrition and food security], 4 [education] and 9 [infrastructure component]. The World Food Program has applauded the increased funding in the 2017 State Budget toward nutrition, especially for mothers and children.
Spokesperson, Minister of State Agio Pereira, noted “Timor-Leste played an important role in shaping the development of the SDGs and is continuing through the High–Level Group to call for global implementation. At the same time we are working domestically to integrate the goals into our own planning processes, fund for accelerated progress and monitor to accurately assess our achievement. The SDGs are at the core of a better development paradigm where all seek to ensure that ‘no one is left behind’. Timor-Leste made some encouraging progress in the former MDGs, now we are working hard to ensure we achieve much more in the period of this new agenda, which covers 2015-2030.”ENDS
