Guyana highlighted progress made in its implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), at the High-Level Political Forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) recently held at the Organization’s New York Headquarters.
During the country’s presentation of its first Voluntary National Review (VNR) report to ECOSOC, Foreign Secretary, the Honourable Carl B. Greenidge, expanded that progress had been made in a number of areas, including in the preservation of the environment, and pointed out challenges being faced in the provision of quality education and health services, infrastructure, access to concessionary financing, human capacity, and data gaps. Furthermore, he explained that the preparatory process had proved to be useful in consolidating national progress in implementing the SDGs particularly in the context of Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy – Vision 2040.
Leader of the delegation, Minister of State, Dawn Hastings, in highlighting her perspective as an indigenous educator with over two decades of experience in the hinterland, emphasised that the delivery of educational services was especially challenging.
For her part, Director, Office of the Budget, Ministry of Finance, Sonya Roopnauth, elaborated on efforts being made by Guyana to integrate the monitoring of the SDGs in the national planning and budgeting framework. She noted the efforts being taken to address the challenge of significant data gaps.
Guyana was one of 47 United Nations Member States to present its report on the implementation of the SDGs to the ECOSOC forum. So far, more than 150 States, including five Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, have reported.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for global peace and prosperity. In a report on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda (A/69/700) the United Nations Secretary-General noted that “we must give meaning to the Organization’s promise…to take the world forward to a sustainable future”.
Among members of the Guyanese delegation were Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Gerald Gouveia; Director, Global and Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Troy Torrington; and SDGs Focal Point, Guyana Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Dr Olney Daly.
