Platform adopts 12-pt SDG declaration

A citizen platform adopted on Wednesday a 12-point declaration that includes active participation of the country's marginal people in development work and finalisation of a law to reduce inequality to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh.
Citizens' Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, an alliance of various nongovernmental organisations (NGO), also declared working on undertaking a demand-basis plan, ensure good governance and better coordination among public and private agencies to this end.
The declaration was made at the concluding session of the day-long conference on 'Citizens' Conference 2017: Implementation of SDGs in Bangladesh with the theme 'No one will be left behind'.
The platform organised the conference at the city's Krishibid Institution (KIB).
Dr. Shamsul Alam, Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (GED), attended the closing ceremony as the special guest with Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in the chair.
Managing Director (MD) of Apex Footwear Limited Syed Nasim Manzur, Executive Director (ED) of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, a standing committee member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), also attended the ceremony, among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Shamsul Alam said Bangladesh has played an important role in devising SDG implementation following the country's significant success in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) earlier.
The government is maintaining regular collaboration with all concerning agencies including private ones, he said.
"Private sector is the main driving force of the country's economy, which is prioritised by the government in development activities related to SDGs," he said.
He also said the country needs to adopt home-grown development plans to make the economic activities more meaningful in line with the SDGs.
In his speech, Nasim Manzur said the private sector is directly involved with several SDGs including 6, 8 and 12 encompassing better workplace, economic growth, responsible consumption and food production.
"Actually all of the targets under SDGs are connected with each other," he said.
Underscoring the private sector's role in the national economy, he said these cannot function properly without government's support.
He also laid emphasis on adopting new technologies to maximise the output with minimum resources.

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