(MPI) - The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) and GIZ (on behalf of the German government) in Hanoi on August 25 jointly held a conference to announce of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) and policy dialogue towards the sustainable development goal (SGD) Summit 2023: National Commitments and Actions.

Le Viet Anh, Director-General of MPI’s Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment speaks at the conference. Photo: MPI

Le Viet Anh, Director-General of MPI’s Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment highly valued the positive contribution and extensive involvement of relevant agencies during the building of VNR.

According to the latest UN’s SDGs report, an assessment of the around 140 targets for which trend data is available shows that, half-way to 2030 but only 12 percent of those are on track, 50 percent are behind schedule and 30 percent regressed below the 2015 baseline

Under current trends, 575 million people will still be live in extreme poverty in 2030, and only about one third of countries will meet the target to halve national poverty levels. The world is back at hunger levels not seen since 2005, and food prices remain higher in more countries than in the period 2015-2019.

The way things are going, it will take 286 years to close gender gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws. And in education, the impacts of years of underinvestment and learning losses are such that, by 2030, some 84 million children will be out of school and 300 million children or young people attending school will leave unable to read and write. The world is facing great challenges in completing the SDGs by 2030.

Pauline Tamesis, UN Resident Coordinator addresses the event. Photo: MPI

Pauline Tamesis, UN Resident Coordinator said that the UN is preparing for the SDGs Summit to be held on this September. The SDG Summit is an opportunity to secure the breakthroughs and momentum needed to change course and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The building of VNR was an opportunity to raise awareness and foster the coordination between ministries and agencies, strengthen policy coherence, promote the partnerships between the government and stakeholders as well as collect data and analyse statistics on the SDGs.

Vietnam’s VNR will provide a comprehensive and detailed prgress of 17 SDGs implementation in the country, creating chance for to work and further speed up the implementation of the SDGs in the coming time.

At the conference, participant held a policy dialogue to exchange and discuss prioritised areas and investment in the SDG implementation, which will create momentum for innovating the goals.

SDG has become a common goal that Vietnam and every is aiming for. Vietnam is committed to continuing speeding up the comprehensive implementation of the SDGs through strategies, master plannings, plans and policies at national, sectoral and local levels.

Alongside, the country will define major and prioritised areas with spillover effects in SDG implementation to focus resources and engagement. The political dialogues are the starting point for all parties to join hands in accelerate and transform the goals and complete them by 2030./.

Bao Linh

Ministry of Planning and Investment