Your Excellency Chairman of the Senate Mr. Ashimbayev, 

Honorable Deputy Prime Minister Duisenova,

Esteemed members of Parliament and Government,

Dear meeting participants,

We are at the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, a critical time for renewed ambition and action to accelerate progress on the SDGs and the pledge to leave no one behind.

As it was concluded in New York in late September, the world is not on track to meet the SDGs. Countries are barely one-fourth of the way to achieving for example health-related SDG targets by 2030. 

All agreed that we require urgent acceleration, ambitious policies and transformative leadership.

Dear Speaker, 

Establishment of SDG Commission in Parliament reflects strong commitment of Kazakhstan to this acceleration plan. 

The Parliamentary Commission plays a pivotal role in SDGs implementation by coordinating and overseeing Government policies and  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.

The submission of the law on the republican budget to the Parliament presents a critical opportunity to prioritize and scrutinize how funding aligns with the SDGs. During this pivotal moment, it is imperative to place the utmost focus on how SDGs are budgeted.

Our recent analysis indicate that budget programs are currently aligned with the SDGs at a rate of only 57%. This highlights the need for increased efforts to enhance the alignment and ensure that budget allocations better support the achievement of SDGs. 

Another important challenge for the Commission is to influence  SDGs integration into local development plans in the regions. Presently according to our assessment it is below 30% when at central national  strategic plan level it reaches up to 80%. SDGs need to be duly addressed at the local level. Therefore, it is crucial to identify priority SDGs for each region and break down SDG targetssupported by specific measures and financing. Otherwise, 80% at national level might not translate into reality of population of Kazakhstan. 

It is also important to recognize the existing financing gaps to undertake due resource mobilization. According to UNDP's 2020 Development Finance Assessment there is a potential to unlock additional private financing averaging so far to only 20% of total available development finance. 

Finally, we would like to also suggest opening the Parliament Commission to collaboration with NGOs, independent experts, and academia, who can make a substantive advance towards the national SDGs.

In closing, I would like to express my best wishes for a highly productive and collaborative work ahead for the Parliamentary Commission. 

UNDP was entrusted by Secretary General of United Nations a role of SDGs accelerator in UN System. We accompany SDG Parliamentary Commission in fulfilment of its mandate on almost daily basis. We will continue equipping this Parliamentary Commission with best practices from the world, finding friendly tools  for members of parliament to exercise its role as guardiens of SDGs so they become a reality of each citizen of Kazakhstan.  

Thank you!