PRETORIA, South Africa is participating in the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2017 (HLPF 2017), now underway at the United Nations in New York with Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa leading the country’s delegation.

Held under the theme, “Eradicating Poverty and Promoting Prosperity in a Changing World”, the forum will take stock of the overall objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda 2030, adopted at the UN in September 2015, the Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement here Monday.

Delegates will assess trends related to the implementation of Agenda 2030 and identify issues that may affect future achievements and the actions required to address poverty, hunger, health, gender equality, industry, innovation and infrastructure at the forum, which ends on Wednesday.

Molewa will also participate in the Partnership for Action on the Green Economy (PAGE) high-level panel discussion on how the development of green and more inclusive economies and financial mechanisms are delivering on the SDGs. She said South Africa welcomed progress made thus far with regards to the implementation of the SDGs worldwide.

We note that given the reality of countries being at different levels of development, success will be largely uneven and where progress has been made, there could be under-reporting, given the enormous challenge of available, accurate, timely and verifiable data in some countries in Africa and across the developing world, the statement quoted her as saying.

South Africa commended the work undertaken by the UN Statistics Division in its commitment to the advancement of the global statistical system. It has called for capacity building in the area of reporting in developing countries, supporting and improving data collection and quality, and ensuring that reporting obligations do not overburden administrations.

South Africa has also called for better alignment and communication between the sub-national, national, regional and international levels. It wants an inclusive approach when formulating national strategies to ensure that these strategies are based on sustainable development principles and objectives.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK