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On 6 October 2023, a meeting of the Parliamentary Commission to monitor the implementation of national goals and targets in the field of sustainable development was held under the chairmanship of Maulen Ashimbayev, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main agenda items discussed were the improvement of health care and education for the population.
Opening the session, the Speaker of the Senate stressed that the Head of State outlined a number of key tasks to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the sidelines of the 78th session of the General Assembly UN. In this context, priority was given to the problems of national health and education.
"President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is a national priority for Kazakhstan. A Parliamentary Commission was formed to involve the Parliament in this work,"Maulen Ashimbayev emphasized.
Maulen Ashimbayev pointed out the importance of interaction among all stakeholders and urged the participants of the meeting to work together to achieve common goals.
"Together we need to develop a systematic approach to the implementation of the SDGs and update the national system of indicators. It is also necessary to make a qualitative breakdown of sustainable development indicators by region and actively involve the regions in this work,"the Speaker of the Parliament said.
The Deputy Prime-Minister, Ministers of Health, Education, Science and Higher Education, UNDP Resident Representative in Kazakhstan Katarzyna Wawiernia, Head of WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan Skender Sila, leaders of akimats and deputies of regional maslikhats, representatives of the Senate Young Experts Club, public and international organisations also attended the parliamentary committee meeting.
In her speech, UNDP Resident Representative Katarzyna Wawiernia highlighted that the world is currently not on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, particularly around health. However, the establishment of the SDG Parliamentary Commission reflects Kazakhstan's commitment to accelerating SDG implementation.
“The Parliamentary Commission plays a pivotal role in SDGs implementation by coordinating and overseeing Government policies aligning them with the SDGs. Its primary function would be establishing an enabling environment for effective SDG implementation through efficient law-making, budgeting and SDGs localization”.
UNDP’s recent analysis indicates that budget programs in Kazakhstan are currently aligned with the SDGs at a rate of only 57 percent. This highlights the need for increased efforts to enhance the alignment and ensure that budget allocations better support the achievement of SDGs.
Currently, UNDP, within the framework of the programme to set up a Regional SDG Platform for Central Asia, funded by the European Union, is supporting the localization of SDGs in four regions, but SDG integration into local development plans in these regions is below 30 percent when at the state level it reaches up to 80 percent. SDGs are needed to be duly addressed at the local level. Therefore, it is crucial to identify priority SDGs for each region and break down SDG targets supported by specific measures and financing.
The meeting concluded with participants sharing proposals and insights for further collaboration to achieve national sustainable development goals.
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