MINSK, 24 January (BelTA) – Belarus has received high approval for the work done to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in 2018, Vice Speaker of the Council of the Republic, National Coordinator for SDGs Marianna Shchetkina said at the First National Forum on Sustainable Development in Minsk, BelTA has learned.
Belarus has been working hard to form a positive image on the international stage. Various indicators of the country's development and the work on sustainable development enable the country to place high in the global rankings. Marianna Shchetkina drew attention to such an important ranking as the 2018 SDG Index and Dashboard report. “It assesses countries' distance to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the basis of 100 indicators. Belarus ranks 23rd among 156 countries (76 points out of 100) and has been generally rated above average for the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” she said.
According to the national coordinator, these figures confirm that the work is yielding results. “But we are only at the start of the journey. We will need to do a lot to ensure the sustainable development of our country. What is needed for this? Not to stay indifferent. We would like to see our first forum's motto “Together Towards Sustainable Future!” accepted by the society and turn into a kind of national idea,” Marianna Shchetkina said.
The 2030 Agenda recommends the states to analyze the SDGs achievement process: global, regional, national. Belarus adheres to this approach. In 2017, the country presented a voluntary report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the international level. Belarus also took part in the EAEU report presentation on sustainable development in the UN headquarters. Last year, Belarus organized the Regional SDG Coordination Leaders Forum to discuss ways of developing partnership between countries and organizations who work on achieving the SDGs.
“We held parliamentary hearings. The first national forum is a national review of the country's work on achieving the SDGs,” Marianna Shchetkina added. She also thanked all the national partners, the UN country team and the Dortmund International Center for Education for productive cooperation.
