By Shabait Reporter,
As part of the commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the UN in Eritrea hosted an event on Eritrea’s transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The event entitled, “Transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals: What does it mean for Eritrea?” provided a platform for discussion on what the transition from the MDGs to the SDGs means for Eritrea.
Government officials, UN staff, development partners and representatives of research and academia institutions gathered at the Eritrean Worker’s Union and engaged in a lively discussion covering issues such as the sustainability of Eritrea’s success in the health-related MDGs and approaches to replicate this success in achievement of other areas of the SDGs.
The MDGs will expire at the end of 2015 and will be succeeded by the SDGs for another 15 years from 2016 to 2030.
“This event provides us with the opportunity to look at Eritrea’s achievements over the past 15 years of the MDGs and see how we can build upon these successes while looking at how to go forward with the implementation of the SDGs in Eritrea,” said Christine N. Umutoni, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Eritrea.
“The United Nations in Eritrea is committed in its partnership with the Government of Eritrea and will support the government and its people towards the achievement of the SDGs” she added.
It was noted throughout the discussion that the Government of the State of Eritrea is committed to incorporating the SDGs in the country’s planning process.
The event was moderated by Dr.Luka Okumu of the United Nations in Eritrea, with a keynote address from Prof. Abraham Kidane of the Ministry of National Development and a presentation on Eritrea’s perspective of the SDGs by Dr. Ghiorgis Tekle of the College of Business and Economics in Eritrea.
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This was supplemented with a presentation on the student perspective of the SDGs by Ms. Deborah Tedros, also from the College of Business and Economics in Halhale.
The Government of Eritrea declared its adoption of the SDGs in an address given at the UN General Assembly by H.E. Osman Saleh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in September this year noting that “the goals and targets [in the outcome document] bode well with Eritrea’s Self Reliance Policy and Development Agenda.”
Eritrea has recorded significant progress in achievement of MDGs 4 (child mortality), 5 (maternal health) and 6 (HIV/AIDS).
The Government of Eritrea and the UN are currently in the penultimate year of its four-year Strategic Partnership Cooperation Framework (SPCF 2013-2016) and has already commenced preparations for the development of a new five year partnership of cooperation (2017-2021) which will incorporate Eritrea’s national development plans and the SDGs.
