Lawmakers from all four provinces and different political parties Friday joined hands for generating a national response to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The members of the Senate, National Assembly and members of the four provincial assemblies from various political parties participated in the first National Legislators' Conclave on 'Financing Sustainable Development Goals', organized by Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusarnmenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
In what could be a significant step towards achieving the SDGs and national development agenda in Pakistan, they recognized the importance of achieving SDGs and vowed to lead the process for generating a national response towards achieving 17 goals.
Those who were part of the debate included Syed Naveed Qamar, Ahsan Iqbal, Dr Nafeesa Shah, Kanwal Shuzeb, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Development, Dr Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Health, Mujahid Ali, Javed Hasnain, Sahibzada Kamal ud Din, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, and Syed Javaid Husnain.
From Punjab Assembly, the participants included Mohsin Khan Leghari, Rana Munawar Ghuas, Aisha Nawaz, Sadia Sohail Rana and Raheela Khadim Hussain; from Sindh Assembly, Rashid Khan Khilji, Rabia Azfar, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi and Barrister Hasnain Ali Mirza; from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, MPAs Taj Mohammad, Humaira Khatoon, and Zcenat Bibi; and Balochistan MPAs included Nasrullah Khan Zayrai, Abdul Wahid Saddiqui, and Bushra Rind.
Convener National Caucus Mohsin Khan Leghari, who is also minister for irrigation, government of Punjab, while opening the discussion said that since there is no defined yardstick to measure the parameters affecting core issues the country's economy is trapped in, the conclave informed all the participants of the key challenges faced in financing sustainable development.
He underscored the need for continuous efforts by the lawmakers for achieving SDGs, adding that it is high time to recognize the key role of private sector in supporting and assisting governments in meeting the national development targets.
In context of private sector's role in financing sustainable development, I-SAPS Research Fellow Ahmad Ali identified resource constraint, financial flows, their inconsistency, and delays in fund release as the biggest challenges in achieving the SDGs.
He highlighted the role of private sector, saying that 90 percent jobs, 60 percent GDP and 80 percent capital flows are driven through private sector. Moreover, he stated that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributes Rs 7.66 billion to the national development. He also referred to the I-SAPS recent study, saying that 77 percent of the private sector organizations and corporate entities are willing to collaborate with government. He added that 23 percent of these organizations are even willing to make financial contributions.
While speaking, Naveed Qamar appreciated the efforts and stressed the need for a legal and policy framework for engaging private sector proactively for supporting the governments. Kanwal Shauzab, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Development, who was nominated as the National Convener for the National Caucus on Financing Sustainable Development, said that formation of the caucus is a significant move and is reflective of the resolve of the legislators to drive the national development process.
She vowed that the National Caucus on Financing Sustainable Development will enable formation of policies, rules and regulations necessary for achieving SDGs. While affirming the significance of private sector participation in SDGs, she said that the caucus will be a vehicle to create an enabling environment and facilitate private sector's mainstreaming with the governments' SDGs agenda.
MPA Nusrat Saher Abbasi lamented that it was unfortunate that majority of the lawmakers are even not aware of the process of legislations and in the case of treasury benches, they are only required to support any legislation without getting involved in the legislation making. She further stated that health and education being the most important components of the SDGs have never remained a priority of any government.