KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The newly formed All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) aims to engage with more local communities to achieve collectively the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said its chair Maria Chin Abdullah.
The Petaling Jaya Member of Parliament (MP) said the APPG, with 10 Members of Parliament, two senators and civil society organisations (CSOs), has had three meetings at the parliamentary level on the SDGs implementation for the target groups.
“At present, APPG is cross-party so we have all the opposition as well as the government membership. We also aim to engage with local communities, to see how we can actualise and localise the SDGs,” she said at the plenary session on Establishing A Whole Of Nation Approach Towards Achieving The SDGs at the Malaysia SDG Summit 2019 here today.
“APPG also uses SDGs as guidance and we believe without the participation of the people who are most affected by the challenges, we cannot go far. When 2030 comes along, we must proudly say that we achieved all our goals. It is our moral obligation towards the people,” she said.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong on Oct 17 said Parliament had approved the APPG set-up, a model borrowed from the United Kingdom Parliament, which is a platform to discuss common topics among parliamentarians and senators, as well as stakeholders comprising academicians, professionals, NGOs and partners.
Maria also hoped that APPG would go beyond civil society to include more participation and let communities’ voices to be heard.
“I would also like to see the state government and local councillors coming in to engage in discussion on the SDGs implementation to the targeted groups,” she said.
In September 2015, all 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN) unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its implementation framework, where the SDGs chart in detail a way forward to ensure a future that is sustainable for people, planet, peace and prosperity. It is to be achieved through a spirit of partnership between the government, private sector and civil society.
The 2030 Agenda is the most transformative and ambitious plan ever crafted by the global community with 17 goals, 169 targets and 232 indicators that balance the economic, social and environmental pillars of development.
The two-day summit, which was opened by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday, carries the theme Accelerating Progress on the SDGs: Whole of Nation Approach, and will contribute ideas and strategies to move the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development forward and energise partnerships through the whole of the nation approach in attaining the SDGs. — Bernama
