MINSK, 17 July (BelTA) – Plans are in place to hold a national forum on sustainable development in Belarus in January 2019, National Coordinator for SDGs, Vice Speaker of the Council of the Republic Marianna Shchetkina told the media following the meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.
“We need a systemic approach. We also need to share experiences. This is not a political platform. It is a platform to discuss how we will live on. Of course, we will live nice and comfortable but for that we need to put some effort. We would like to discuss this in January during the national forum,” Marianna Shchetkina said.
It is expected that the event will bring together representatives of the government, civil society, business and academia. The main issue for discussion will be the national sustainable development strategy up to 2035, which is being developed by the inter-agency group in Belarus.
This effort is headed by the Economy Ministry. The strategy is to be ready by December. To make it more effective, to hear the views of various sectors of the population and branches of power, we proposed to discuss it at the national forum. We are looking toward suggestions rather than opinions,” Marianna Shchetkina said.
Marianna Shchetkina noted that a number of advisory and consulting bodies have been set up to ensure interaction in working towards the SDGs. These include the Council for Sustainable Development consisting of groups on economy, environment, social issues, monitoring and evaluation and also the parliamentary group, a partner group. At the regional level there are sustainable development teams made of representatives of local authorities, business community and public organizations.
“We have made amendments to the bill on normative-legal acts to make sure the theme of sustainability is in focus,” she said.
