Uganda starts voluntary national SDGs review
Apr 26, 2024
Baguma said the reporting from government departments and civil society organisations includes statistics, along with other aspects.
Mercy Melody Arindagye, a UN Youth Fellow under UNAU speaking said a lot of progress has been made on implementation of SDGs.(Photos by John Masaba)
John Masaba
Journalist @New Vision
_____________________ Richard Tinkasiimire Baguma, United Nations Association of Uganda (UNAU) Secretary General Aminah Nassali, President of the Uganda Youth Coalition for SDGS
Uganda has started the Voluntary National Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) review process ahead of the high-level United Nations (UN) meeting in New York.
United Nations Association of Uganda (UNAU) Secretary General Richard Tinkasiimire Baguma on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, said they had started by capturing views from the youth and that the entity will embark on consultation with other groups in due course.
According to him, the views will be integrated into the national report for Uganda, and together with the Office of the Prime Minister and the UN, they will present the report at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York in July.
Baguma made the revelation at the Youth Voluntary National Review (VNR) consultation meeting at Kyambogo University on Wednesday. The meeting, which was graced by over 100 youth, including university students, was under the theme: Engaging Uganda Youth: Catalysing SDGs Implementation.
What is VNR?
VNR is one of the ways to measure the progress or the lack of it towards the attainment of the SDGs by a country.
Uganda is one of the countries that has volunteered to report to the UN about its progress towards the attainment of the SDGs due in July this year. Uganda’s delegation to the UN is expected to be headed by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.
Baguma said the reporting from government departments and civil society organisations includes statistics, along with other aspects.
“One of the things we are trying to do is to work together with all the stakeholders and development partners, financiers, the multilateral and bilateral donors, and CSOs so that we can accelerate and add fuel to all the action we need to do towards attaining the SDGs by the deadline of 2030,” he said.
Aminah Nassali, President of the Uganda Youth Coalition for SDGS, said they have innovatively come up with solutions to address issues around SDG3, which is on quality health.
She said they have been able to do so through initiating health camps and also doing training that can support fellow young people to acquire knowledge and skills on how to contribute to a reduction in unemployment and issues of poverty.
“Cognizant of the fact that much of Uganda’s population is youth, we cannot afford to leave them behind. When the youth achieve, we also achieve as a country,” she said.
She said, however, that Uganda needs to do more to address the challenges of financing SDGs implementation through creative alternative financing: “We cannot always rely on donors from the outside world to come and finance our work here”.
Dr Mercy Melody Arindagye, a UN Youth Fellow under UNAU, said while progress has been made by the Government and other stakeholders on SDG implementation, there is still a need for further efforts in education. She said many young people are unaware of SDGs, making it difficult to ensure that no one is left behind.
What are SDGs?
The SDGs form a cohesive and integrated package of global aspirations that the world is committed to achieving, building on the accomplishments of their predecessors; the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and SDG Centre for Africa, Uganda is more than 50 percent on the way towards achieving SDGs by 2030. Among the 52 African countries, Uganda ranks the 18th position with an overall score of 54.88 (compared to the regional average of 52.7 in 2020)
In 2019, Uganda’s progress on SDGs was ranked 140 out of 162 countries with a global index score of 52.6 per cent declining from 125th position out of 156 Countries in 2018.
No Comment