Implementing SDGs in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, as part of  its commitment to share progress and success stories in implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has decided to take part in the Voluntary National Review at the UN High Level Political Forum to be held in New York from July 10 to July 19. Bangladesh has an inspiring story to tell. We have earned many international accolades for achievements in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In taking on the SDG journey, Bangladesh has been inspired by the dreams of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had envisaged a prosperous Bangladesh with equal opportunities for all. The present government too envisioned transforming Bangladesh into a lower middle-income country by 2021 which has already been achieved and a developed country by 2041. We have already translated this political ambition into actionable agenda by formulating Perspective Plan (2010-2021) and associated two Five Year Plans (FYPs). Bangladesh worked on the 7th FYP (2016-2020) integrating Agenda 2030. This offered us a tremendous opportunity to actively contribute to the formulation of the Agenda 2030 while reflecting the SDG priorities in our national plan. The government has adopted 'whole of society' approach to ensure wider participation of NGOs, development partners, private sector, media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the process of formulation of action plan and implementation of SDGs.
MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF SDGS MAPPING OF MINISTRIES: Bangladesh has clearly identified the responsibilities of the ministries and agencies to achieve the SDG goals. We have mapped out lead, co-lead and associate ministries against each target of the SDGs. This mapping exercise is expected to reduce duplication of efforts, enhance synergy and help formulate action plans. The General Economics Division (GED) conducted a review of various means of data generation in the country. It reveals that we have readily available data for 70 indicators and partially available data for 108 indicators. We need to devise new mechanism for data mining for the remaining 63 indicators.
NATIONAL MONITORING AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK: The Planning Commission is in the process of finalising a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for SDG implementation. This framework will have a macro level web-based data repository system to facilitate data collection, analysis, progress tracking and reporting.
ACTION PLAN TO ACHIEVE SDGS: The government is preparing an action plan for implementation of the SDGs in alignment with the 7th FYP. The lead ministries are working towards translating the respective targets into actionable projects/programs/activities in this regard. The Action Plan of SDGs will be finalised by June 2017. The GED is at the final stage of determining the financing needs for SDG implementation with a view to mobilising internal and external resources accordingly.
ASSIMILATION OF SDG TARGETS IN ANNUAL PLANNING: Bangladesh has introduced Annual Performance Agreement (APA), a result-based performance management system, across the whole spectrum of public sector. The Ministry of Public Administration has planned to suitably utilise this APA framework for translating the longer-term targets into annual ones.
CHALLENGES AHEAD: SDGs are all encompassing development documents requiring huge resources for implementation. Traditional sources of funding are not going to be sufficient. We need to find innovative ways of financing from government, private sector, development partners and ensure effective, efficient ways for utilisation. The SDG implementation requires a multi-stakeholder approach involving private sector, NGOs, CSOs, media and major group of other stakeholders. Bangladesh has been working towards expanding opportunities for enhanced participation.
There are enormous challenges in data collection, analysis, disaggregation, and dissemination fronts. The country needs to build collaboration - bilaterally, regionally and globally for capacity building and sharing of best practices. Localisation of SDG targets and indicators for contextualising global agenda appropriately with local development plans and strategies is of utmost importance. The government formed a SDG Implementation and Monitoring Committee at the Prime Minister's Office where the Principal Coordinator for SDG Affairs is the convenor.
SDGs demand concerted and collective efforts with strong political commitment. Agenda 2030 comes at a time when the country has already kicked off journey towards an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a prosperous country by 2041 under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh has successfully incorporated SDG priorities in all development policies. As the country moves ahead, challenges in the areas of resources mobilisation, stakeholders' engagement and data management, improvement in economic governance will have to be encountered. Yet Bangladesh is quite confident of setting itself as an example of  a leading SDG achiever. In the way forward, the nation draws inspiration from the past successes in MDG implementation.
Dr Shamsul Alam is Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (GED), Bangladesh Planning Commission.  sabau47@yahoo.com