The challenge of maintaining sustainability in the context of prevailing patterns of growth and development began to be recognised at the global level since the early seventies. The UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 and several influential publications such as Limits to Growth published by the Club of Rome (1972) and World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development (IUCN 1980) brought the issue of sustainable development to the global forefront. The formal definition of the concept of sustainable development was first introduced in the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WECD) in 1987: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the current generations without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their needs. This intergenerational concept of sustainable development was widely adopted including at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 ( Rio Earth Summit).
The concept of sustainable development has evolved over the time from focusing less on intergenerational needs and more on the holistic approach embracing economic development, social inclusion and sustainability. In 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, the governments adopted the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation which called upon "the integration of the three components of sustainable development - economic development, social development and environmental protection - as interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars." The concept of intergenerational justice remains but is now secondary to the holistic view of sustainable development.
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in 2012 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Rio Summit (Rio + 20 Summit) emphasised the three-part vision of sustainable development in the final outcome document, "The Future We Want". The Sustainable Development Goals called for in the same outcome document were also based on the three-part framework.
The United Nations General Assembly at the 70th session held on September 25, 2015 adopted the outcome document of the UN summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda entitled Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and decided on new global Sustainable Development goals (SDGs). At the core of the 2030 Agenda is a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to end poverty, hunger and inequality, take action on climate change and the environment, improve access to health and education, care for people and the planet, and build strong institutions and partnerships. The SDGs are unprecedented in terms of scope and significance and go much beyond the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs (2001-15) by including economic growth, sustainable production and consumption, sustainable urbanisation, innovation, data generation for tracking progress and the importance of peace and justice for all in the agenda. The Agenda calls for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle income. The SDGs are not legally binding, but governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the goals.
BANGLADESH'S ENGAGEMENT IN THE 2030 AGENDA PROCESS: Bangladesh has been widely acclaimed as one of the forerunners of MDGs implementation. It achieved many targets ahead of time and others within the 2015 deadline. It made outstanding progress in the areas of poverty alleviation, ensuring food security, primary school enrolment, and gender parity in primary and secondary level education, lowering infant and under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, improving immunisation coverage, and reducing the incidence of communicable diseases. Buoyed by its success Bangladesh became an active participant of the global process underlying the preparation of post-MDG agenda with its domestic and global actions.
Internally, the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission, supported by the UN System in Dhaka led by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), steered the preparation of a draft of the post-2015 Development Agenda along with Goals and Targets and several indicators. Several rounds of consultations with multiple stakeholders including government officials, public representatives, civil society organisations (CSOs), and media representatives took place in 2013 at both the national and the sub-national levels. The document also benefited from inputs provided by relevant government ministries, experts from UN organisations, and development partners. The final consultation held in June 2013 was inaugurated by the Prime Minister and was participated, among others, by Ministers, Advisers to the Prime Minister, Secretaries of Ministries, and civil society organisations. Finally, the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Bangladesh Proposal to UN came up with 11 goals, 58 targets and 241 indicators. The goals concerned pressing development issues embracing human potential, poverty and inequality, food security and nutrition, health and family planning, gender equality, quality education and skills, employment and worker rights, good governance, sustainable production and consumption, environmental sustainability and disaster management, and international cooperation and partnership.
The Bangladesh proposals were consistent with the global aspirations as nine out of 11 proposals were common to those proposed by Open Working Group (OWG) of the United Nations and other goals proposed by OWG were also there in Bangladesh proposal but as targets of different goals. The Government of Bangladesh, along with other UN Member States, formally adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a global agenda on 25 September 25, 2015.
SDGS AND THE 7TH FIVE YEAR PLAN: Bangladesh experienced a fortuitous combination of two simultaneous processes which significantly facilitated integration of SDGs into the national development agenda. While the Government was participating in the 2030 Agenda process at the global level, it was also preparing the 7th Five Year Plan at the national level. Accordingly, the sustainable development goals proposed by the UN Open Working Group (OWG) received serious consideration for integration into the national plan. The goals were also given emphasis while setting the priority areas of the 7FYP. The 7th Plan being the guiding document that would be implemented in five years, achievement of Plan objectives and targets will contribute towards achievement of SDGs. All the 17 goals have been integrated into the plan. Of these goals Goal 14, Goal 16 and Goal 17 of the SDGs (18 per cent) are partially aligned with the 7FYP while the rest 14 goals (82 per cent) are thematically fully aligned with it.
A Development Results Framework (DRF) has been embedded in the Plan for monitoring the 7FYP. The outcomes and targets in the DRF which are aligned with the SDGs focus on macroeconomic development, poverty reduction, employment, education, health, water and sanitation, transport and communication, power, energy and mineral resources, gender and inequality, environment, climate change and disaster management, ICT (Information and communications technology), urban development, governance, and international cooperation and partnership. The DRF was prepared in a consultative process in order to address the views of different actors and develop a robust and rigorous result based monitoring and evaluation framework.
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR ACHIEVING SDGS: Recognising the challenge of implementation of ambitious and transformational SDGs the Prime Minister established an Inter-Ministerial Committee on SDGs Monitoring and Implementation. The Committee comprising Secretaries from 20 Ministries/Divisions will coordinate SDGs monitoring and implementation.
MAPPING OF MINISTRIES BY SDG GOALS AND TARGETS: The 7th Five Year Plan framework comprises two broad parts: Part 1 focuses on macroeconomic perspective, and Part 2 focuses on sector development strategies spreading over 13 sectors. The plan is implemented mainly through programmes and projects derived from the sectoral strategies. The sectors are highly aggregative and a number of Ministries/Divisions are responsible for preparing and implementing projects/programmes under a particular sector. A cursory look at the targets of SDGs indicates a complex web of Ministries/Divisions are responsible for attaining a particular target. In order to delineate the responsibilities of different ministries/divisions to each of the targets the Government has mapped the relevant ministries/divisions by goal and associated target. The mapping exercise has assigned the lead role in attaining a target to a particular ministry/division or organization which is supported in most cases by a co-lead ministry/division. All other ministries/divisions which have a stake in a particular target are grouped under associate ministries/divisions. The SDG Mapping is done in the Action Plan Format that identifies the actions during the Plan period, existing policy instruments and proposed global indicators for performance measurement.
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SDGS: As a sequel to the mapping exercise the ministries/divisions/organisations are required to prepare their respective action plans which would have specific actions/activities and interventions to achieve their respective goals/targets. The Ministries are consulting both the 2030 Agenda and the 7th FYP to formulate short, medium and long-term sector-specific plans for the 7th FYP period and beyond.
The National Action Plan for the implementation of the SDGs has been prepared by GED, Bangladesh Planning Commission which has coordinated the Action Plans of the 43 lead Ministries/Divisions through a rigorous process of consultations, review and feedback. The Plan lists the ongoing projects/programmes that contribute to the achievement of a particular goal and its targets, identifies new projects/programmes that will need to be undertaken during the remaining period of the 7th Plan as well as beyond the current Plan period with indicative costs. New policies/strategies that might be needed in the process are also stipulated. This Plan will guide the Ministries/ Divisions/Agencies to determine their respective investment portfolio that will be realised to attain SDGs as well as the related objectives of Five Year Plans and help assess the performance of the ministries in achieving goals /targets. The Plan represents a dynamic/living document which leaves scope for amendment/revision during the preparation of the 8th Five Year Plan.
DATA GAP ANALYSIS FOR SDGS: The need for data and statistics to monitor the progress on SDGs to ensure their full implementation by target date was amply demonstrated by the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda which called for a "data revolution" in 2013. It is also realised that countries, especially developing countries, do not currently generate all the data needed for monitoring the relevant indicators. Accordingly, Bangladesh undertook two separate exercises - one by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS and the other by the Planning Commission to understand the current state of data and nature and extent of data deficit to monitor progress on and take informed policy decisions on the implementation of the post-2015 agenda.
The General Economics Division (2017a) undertook an assessment of the current status of data in the country - the availability of data from different sources and the gap that needs to be filled through generation of new data. The exercise involved all the relevant data generating agencies including Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
The report divides the indicators into three types depending on the status of data availability: i. Indicators for which data are readily available, ii. Indicators for which data are partially available meaning that some modification, addition and analysis are required in the existing census or survey for obtaining pertinent data, and iii. Indicators for which data are not available giving rise to need for new census or survey. It is observed that 70 indicators (29 per cent) belong to the first category, 63 indicators (26 per cent) belong to the third category, and 108 indicators (45 per cent) belong to the second category. Data availability, its timeliness and quality pose a significant challenge to effective monitoring that could help informed policy decisions.
Prior to the data gap analysis undertaken by GED, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS, 2016) carried out an exercise to identify the data gaps in setting base year and reference year and in monitoring progress on the implementation of the Development Results Framework (DRF) of 7th Five Year Plan (2016-2020) and the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030). BBS classifies data into three categories: data available from BBS, data available outside BBS, and data not available. BBS can directly provide the first category of data and it needs to mainstream "administrative data" in the second category of data. BBS can play a leading role in generating administrative and official data. The exercise also identifies relevant short, medium and long term projects and programmes that have to be undertaken to fill the data gaps and establish strong data base for reference/base year for measurement of progress implementation of 7th FYP and SDGs.
[The second part of the article will be published on Saturday, December 29.]
Dr. Shamsul Alam is Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (GED), Bangladesh Planning Commission.
