A two-day (October 3-4) meeting titled ‘National Workshop Institution Arrangements for the 2030 Agenda: Advancing Coordination and SDGs Integration’ opened yesterday and continued the conversation on capacity development and the basis for accelerating the achievement of the SDGs, following talks in May.

During the workshop, all parts of the government, private sector and other national partners are encouraged to create policy, work plans and activities to prepare for the country’s sustainable development in line with the 8th National Socio-Economic Development Plan.

The workshop is also developing the capacities of members of the national SDG Secretariat and ministerial SDG focal points to enhance inter-ministerial coordination, increase policy coherence and boost the engagement of stakeholders in national planning and implementation.

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Thongphan Savanphet stressed that coordination and integration with regard to the SDGs was essential in encouraging the nation to work together to overcome challenges on the way to achieving the 2030 agenda. 

UNDP Resident Representative Ricarda Rieger, who co-chaired the event, also said that advancing coordination and SDG integration would be a focal point in planning, implementation, measurement and evaluation towards the 2030 agenda.

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly released the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including 17 SDGs. They were designed to build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and intended to drive action in important areas by 2030, leaving no one behind. These goals were broken down into 169 targets and 232 indicators.

As with the MDGs, the Lao government is localising these goals to make them more relevant to the domestic situation and has created an extra SDG aimed at clearing unexploded ordnance in Laos.