New Set Of Development Goals In The Offing

As the curtains draw down on the implementation of the 15 year Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has initiated new set of development agenda for post 2015. The set of Development Agenda, which is still at the consultation stage, is to identify and propose critical elements that will allow a successful implementation of the new agenda at the local level. Kordzo Sedegah, an Economic Specialist with the UNDP at a round table discussion held by NDPC yesterday in Accra, indicated that the United Nations has been supporting a series of global thematic and national level consultations to solicit inputs on priorities and feedbacks on means of implementation to help define the future global development framework that will succeed the MDGs. �More specifically, to help countries make input into shaping the future global development agenda, open and inclusive nation consultation processes were initiated in 2012,� he said. Although Ghana could not achieve some of the MDGs such as sanitation, gender equality, free and compulsory universal education, he disclosed that Ghana was still selected among countries that hosted the national consultation for the first round to solicit the priorities that should be focus of the Post-2015 development agenda. Mr. Sedegah said during the first round of local and national consultations, stakeholders indentified issues such as inequality, environmental sustainability, food security, strengthened governance at all levels, population dynamics, health, education and support system for person living with disability as priorities for the successor development agenda. �The results of these dialogues will inform various regional and international policy discussions and reports to be development framework� he asserted. For effective contribution towards adaptation localization of the Post-2015 development agenda the second round of national consultations would include the community, districts, regional and national levels. �It will also secure inputs through a series of surveys and outreach on the experience of localizing the MDGs in Ghana and issues related to greening the economy in the context of the emerging focus on sustainable development,� he added.