Accra, Feb 02, GNA – Ghana has kickstarted activities towards the collation of information on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) of the Goals.
Mr Charles Kofi Konglo, a Senior Planning Analyst at the Development Coordination Division of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency at a workshop held for reporters of the Agency in Accra, said the VNR would target over 140 indicators, with three main thematic areas on SDG Goals 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17.
The workshop was to build the capacity of the reporters in tracking the SDGs and reporting on them impactfully.
The SDG Goal four represents quality education, five talks about gender equality, 14 stands for life below water, 15 highlights issues on life on land and while 17 is about partnerships for the goals.
Mr Konglo said the activities, led by the NDPC, would include the collection of data from consultation with relevant bodies starting this month.
The VNR will be presented at the 2022 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations (UN) in July 2022.
It will be the second time the country would be undertaking such an exercise, the first of, which happened in 2019.
Mr Konglo said the second VNR would delve into the progress the country had made amid COVID-19 and how to accelerate progress in the implementation of the strategies.
The processes, Mr Konglo explained, included data validation, national and regional level validation of draft report, final review, approval and publication, submission to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), presentation and regional dissemination.
The theme for this year’s HLPF is: “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”
They were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030.
Mr Konglo commended Ghana for the progress made in achieving the SDG targets, especially on eradicating extreme poverty.
“Ghana was doing well on the SDGs before the COVID struck. There are good progress on many of the social indicators,” he said.
Madam Patience Ampomah, a Planning Analyst at the Monitoring and Evaluation Division, NDPC, said the SDGs represented a renewed commitment and “unfinished business” of the Millennium Development Goals.
She, therefore, urged media practitioners to among other things, develop quality content, build capacity, and develop regional networks to help them inform the public adequately towards the achievement of the goals.
Mrs Beatrice Asamani Savage, the Director of Editorial, Ghana News Agency, said journalists were agents of change, as such, it
was necessary that they understood issues around the SDGs and their impact on the populace.
She said that way, they would be able to educate the public on the Goals and provide relevant feedback to policy makers and implementors for national development.
GNA