Committee on sustainable development goals announced

DUBAI // Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, used the last day of the World Government Summit to announce the formation of a National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals.

In a session titled Collaboration to Achieving SDGs, the minister affirmed the UAE’s commitment to sustainable development and revitalised global partnerships by launching the committee and confirming the UAE will play host to the UN’s World Data Forum in 2018.

Governments, business, academia and civil society will meet at the forum to look for new ways to put data to work and inform policy-making for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“We are focused on stepping up our efforts in sustainable development,” said Ms Al Hashimy, who will head the newly-launched national committee.

“However, no development is possible without deploying science and technology. The UAE is one of the leading nations to adopt an innovative approach to policymaking that will lead to lasting results in sustainable development.”

The session wrapped up an SDGs in Action workshop ran throughout the three-day summit.

Macharia Kamau, ambassador and permanent representative at the Kenyan mission to United Nations said: “If science, technology and innovation are the bedrock of sustainable development, there also needs to be a strong policy, financial and budgetary framework and, most importantly, a buy-in from the public and private sectors.”

He commended the UAE for realising that the core of governance is science and technology, not bureaucracy.