SDGs
UNDP launches Accelerator Lab in Bangladesh to support SDGs
The Bangladesh Chapter of the Accelerator Labs, a new addition to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded by the German Cooperation and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), was launched on Wednesday at a virtual event to accelerate learning and mitigate the challenges of the SDGs.
Attended by the Planning Minister M.A.Mannan as the chief guest, the virtual event brought together actors from the Government, private sector, development partners, civil society, and academia to accelerate learning to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Addressing the panel discussion as the Chair, Planning Minister Mannan said the global network like UNDP’s Accelerator Lab can help Bangladesh to regain its space for timely achievement of the SDGs by 2030 and LDC graduation by 2026.
Sultana Afroz, Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh and the CEO of the Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA), PMO, in her remarks during the panel discussion, said Public-Private Partnership is crucial in achieving the SDGs.
"PPPA can collaborate with UNDP’s Accelerator Lab to bring innovations in achieving the SDGs.”
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, one of the panellists, said UNDP has always been with the Government of Bangladesh in its journey towards indomitable Bangladesh.
"The newly launched Accelerator Lab will be a tool to address many challenges in Bangladesh like climate change, disaster management, inequality, and, of course, the adverse impact of the COVID pandemic."
Momen also hoped that the Accelerator Lab would synergise all the initiatives to mitigate the challenges of achieving the SDGs through knowledge share, technology transfer, and best practices.
N M Zeaul Alam, Senior Secretary, ICT Division, among the other panellists, said, “With the help of ICT we are coping well with the new normal during the pandemic. UNDP’s Accelerator Lab can help us to reduce the digital divide caused by the COVID pandemic.”
The panel discussion was moderated by the Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh, Sudipto Mukerjee.
Earlier in the introductory remarks, Zuena Aziz, Principal Coordinator (SDG Affairs), PMO said, “The process of achieving SDGs, needs to be supported by our developing partners like UNDP. I hope this Accelerator Lab can give more strategic support in terms of technology, innovation, exploration and implementation.”
The Accelerator Labs are part of UNDP’s drive to be an incubator for the future.
To accelerate progress towards the 2030 agenda, creating actionable intelligence and testing innovative solutions with national partners are a must.
The Labs are designed to close the gap between the current practices of international development at an accelerated pace of change.
In 2019, UNDP built the world’s largest and fastest learning network, Accelerator Labs, on sustainable development challenges.
Started with 60 Lab teams covering 78 countries, the network has now expanded to 91 Labs covering 115 countries, including Bangladesh.
In 2020 alone, the Labs documented more than 1,700 grassroots-led solutions covering all 17 SDGs.
Guterres urges ‘decisive action’ to avoid debt crisis in developing world
Though significant steps have been taken to prevent debt crises across the world sparked by the COVID-19 crisis, they have not been sufficient to restore economic stability in many developing countries, according to a policy brief issued by the UN Secretary-General on Monday.
More than a year into the pandemic, the fiscal impacts of the crisis are triggering debt distress in a growing number of countries and is severely limiting the ability of many, to invest in recovery and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including urgently needed climate action, Secretary-General António Guterres said.
Also read: Let's plant seeds for sustainable future: UN chief
According to the policy brief, 42 economies borrowing from capital markets have experienced sovereign downgrades since the start of the pandemic, including 6 developed countries, 27 emerging market economies, and 9 least developed countries.
Sovereign downgrades cause borrowing costs to rise, especially for developing countries, which can, in turn, increase the risk of more nations taking on unsustainable debt – especially if the Covid-19 pandemic is more protracted and deeper than expected.
“Unless we take decisive action on debt and liquidity challenges, we risk another ‘lost decade’ for many developing countries, putting the achievement of the SDGs by the 2030 deadline definitively out of reach,” Guterres said.
The policy brief, entitled Liquidity and Debt Solutions to Invest in the SDGs, takes stock of the global policy response since April last year, assess remaining gaps and challenges for their implementation, as well as propose updates to the recommendations, presented last year, in light of developments over the past 12 months.
Need for debt relief
The brief highlights the need for debt relief to create space for investments in recovery and for achieving the SDGs.
Even in the cases of elevated debt, new borrowing can lead to improved creditworthiness if it finances productive investments, it noted, adding that debt relief can also free up resources, create conditions under which countries can return to voluntary market access, and may lower a country’s overall borrowing costs, with positive impacts across the whole economy.
Assistance for small island states
The Secretary-General also urged governments to provide fresh concessional financing for developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States, recapitalise multilateral development banks and accelerate the timetable for replenishing the funds, meet official development assistance (ODA) commitments and provide long-term financing to developing countries for investment in long-term growth.
In support of recent endorsements from the G7, the document also called for a new general allocation of special drawing rights reiterating the need to combine a voluntary reallocation of the rights from developed to developing countries.
The brief also urged the G20 to extend the World Bank’s Debt Suspension Initiative (DSSI) until the end of June 2022 and include middle-income countries, notably small island developing States that have been gravely affected by the crisis.
It also urged the bloc to extend the eligibility for debt relief under its Common Framework for Debt Treatment Beyond the DSSI to other vulnerable countries on a case-by-case basis, as well as consider other mechanisms that would allow countries to access the framework, without compromising the credit rating.
Also read: UN chief lauds Bangladesh’s Covid mitigation efforts
Financing the 2030 Agenda
The policy brief was released to coincide with the high-level meeting of Heads of State and Government on ‘Financing for Development in the era of COVID-19 and Beyond’.
The virtual meeting on Tuesday, followed up on a series of meetings and last year to mobilise action to assist the economic recovery from the pandemic.
The high-level meeting is convened jointly by the Secretary-General Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
‘Liquidity is vital’
Addressing the high-level meeting, Guterres called for urgent assistance for developing countries so they have the financial liquidity they need to respond to the pandemic as well as invest in recovery, or risk a “lost decade” in development terms.
“I’m encouraged to see that our insistence on the necessity for a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the reallocation of unused SDRs to support vulnerable countries, including middle income ones, is now winning widespread acceptance … let us make sure it happens – and is properly managed to the benefit of the developing world”, he said.
Also read: UN Chief for ensuring equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccine
The Secretary-General urged a “three-phase” approach to debt, including a moratorium on debt payments, targeted debt relief, and reforms to the international debt architecture.
He also called for more responsible borrowing and lending, accepted by debtor and creditor countries, investors, market participants, credit rating agencies and international organisations, highlighting the need for a time-bound, open dialogue to build trust and transparency in a systematic, inclusive way.
“Together, with collective resolve, we can help all countries invest in response, recovery, and a more sustainable, resilient future.”
UNDP, BGMEA launch report measuring RMG's impact on SDGs
Although Bangladesh's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Financing Strategy expects a 42% contribution from the private sector, no consolidated industry impact on SDGs has yet been reported.
While some individual factories produce sustainability reports, the appreciation of the magnitude of the impacts has so far remained outside of systematic studies and reporting, making it difficult to understand industry trends and align private sector efforts to government goals.
"In Bangladesh, the RMG sector not only contributes to economic development but also to SDG achievement. It provides employment; supports healthcare of the workforce; invests in up-skilling the workforce; adopts resource recycling; increasingly uses renewable energy," UNDP Resident Representative Sudipto Mukerjee said.
Also read: Explore new markets to sustain RMG industry: Commerce Minister
So, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and the Global Reporting Initiative have taken the first step towards a consolidated industry approach to private sector sustainability reporting.
In the past months, 47 BGMEA member factories conducted sustainability self-reporting – translating their impact into the language of National Priority Indicators (NPIs) and SDGs.
The efforts of the factories were consolidated in the report – "A Pathway to Manage Private Sector Impact on Bangladesh National Priority Indicators (NPIs) & Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" – unveiled on Sunday.
Also read: Partnership crucial to achieve SDGs, national goals: FM
Also, the factories got a certificate of appreciation at the event for their contribution to NPIs and SDGs through sustainability reporting.
"With this report, we wanted to measure the readymade garment (RMG) industry's impact on SDGs to communicate with key stakeholders, such as the government, buyers, trade partners, and communities so that we can take action to support the country together," BGMEA President Dr Rubana Huq said.
"We hope to inspire more RMG factories and other industries to undertake sustainability reporting in the future as it is a key step in the journey of translating the private sector contribution to SDG financing into concrete achievements and future actions."
UN chief in plea for saving forests
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged governments, businesses and people everywhere to scale up efforts to conserve forests and forest species, and to support and listen to the voices of forest communities.
Turkey sees ‘enormous opportunities’ under PPPA in Bangladesh
Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan on Thursday recognised the enormous opportunities that Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) offers to partners and to move bilateral relations forward.
'Dhaka to ensure safe water, hygiene & sanitation for all by 2030'
Planning minister MA Mannan on Thursday said the government would ensure safe water, hygiene and sanitation for all the countrymen to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Ex-VC of DU supports push for stronger anti-tobacco law
Former Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Dr A A M S Arefin Siddique has said the current tobacco control law requires some amendment along with some additions to save the people from consuming such a toxic product like tobacco as well as to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Govt determined to make Bangladesh free from child labour to achieve SDGs: Secy
Labour and Environment secretary KM Abdus Salam on Sunday said Keraniganj would be a child labour- free area by 2022 as government is determined to eliminate it from the country to achieve SDGs.
UN chief calls for political will to achieve SDGs
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for political will and bold action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
SDGs are ‘the future’: Malala
Urging countries to get back on track, UN Messenger of Peace and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai has said that the Sustainable Development Goals are ‘the future’, reports UN News.