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ECLAC promotes integrated national development planning to support the implementation of the SDGs in the Caribbean

13 February 2017|News

The Caribbean symposium on mainstreaming the SDGs in national development planning sets the stage for consideration of a coordinated approach to planning, implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the subregion, including through the strengthening of national institutional infrastructure and by establishing a common statistical platform for measuring progress in SDG implementation across the Caribbean.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is promoting integrated development planning as a key element of national strategy towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Caribbean.  This will be the focus of discussion among representatives of more than 20 Caribbean nations at a symposium being held in Kingston, Jamaica from 14-16 February 2017. 

The SDGs represent 17 global aspirations, covering the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. A year earlier, the SIDS Accelerated Modalities for Action (SAMOA) Pathway was agreed by the international community as a blueprint to further implementation of the sustainable development agenda of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).  The meeting will therefore consider how best to synergize the SDGs and the SIDS agenda with national development plans to ensure that countries pursue a comprehensive development strategy that takes into account relevant global development platforms.

During the symposium, ECLAC Caribbean will emphasize the need for national ownership of the SDGs for success in implementing the goals. This would be advanced by the identification of national institutional infrastructure for planning. The symposium will also provide an opportunity to identify specific needs for technical assistance by member States in the development of integrated national development plans. 

Discussions at the symposium will also inform the implementation of a mechanism for regional reporting on the SDGs for ensuring that national, subnational and subregional indicators, as well as data collection and reporting arrangements are designed and implemented in a way that enables globally comparable and standardized statistics to be compiled by the national statistical systems of the Caribbean. 

The symposium is sponsored by the German government through the BMZ-GIZ programme of support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, and represents the first in a series of planned activities of support by ECLAC Caribbean to member States in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the subregion. 

Senior government officials from the Caribbean in the areas of planning, sustainable development, foreign affairs and national statistical offices are expected to participate in the 3-day symposium. Officials of the United Nations system and representatives of regional organizations, international development partners, and academia will also participate.