Dhaka: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a civil society think tank, has said an important issue over the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is how their implementation will be financed.

‘Public finance -- domestic resource mobilisation -- and foreign aid are expected to continue to be central to supporting the implementation of the SDGs, but they will not be adequate,’ said CPD executive director Professor Mustafizur Rahman.

He finds other potential sources of financing that include resources generated from the private sector, including remittances, crackdown on illicit financial flows and corruption, trade and market access and foreign direct investment.

In a paper obtained by UNB titled 'Learning from the MDGs: Lessons for the SDGs' the CPD Executive Director said much more ambition and effort is required on the part of the national, regional and international communities. ‘It's important to sensitise national policies in line with SDGs.’

New areas of SDGs— cities and human settlements, ecosystem and biodiversity— will call for greater efforts and resources at the country level, said the economist.

A total of 17 Goals with 169 associated Targets will come into effect on January 1, 2016 and will guide the international development agenda over the next 15 years.

The member states, including Bangladesh will commit to work towards implementing the agenda within their own countries and at the regional and global levels.

Over 160 heads of State and Government, together with leaders of civil society and the private sector, will gather at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York for the adoption of the new sustainable development agenda on September 25-27 September 2015.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with 60-member official delegation is scheduled to leave here for New York on September 23 to attend the summit and 70th UNGA.

Professor Rahman said achievement of SDGs in Bangladesh will require a strong and effective institutional mechanism involving all stakeholders, including public representatives, government, private sector, civil society, knowledge community, and development partners.

About public representatives, he referred both central and local and government means both executive and bureaucracy.  

The economist mentioned that concerns have been raised about the sheer breadth and ambition of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the feasibility of monitoring them and tracking actual progress within countries. ‘If monitoring of 8 MDGs, 20 targets and 60 indicators have posed serious challenges at the national level, how about 17 SDGs, 169 targets and over 300 indicators?,’ he said.

Prof Rahman thinks the capacity of national statistics office and other government agencies will be tested and they need to perform as per requirement.

‘Accessibility, quality and timeliness of data will be critical. To fix a reference year will be a challenge,’ he said adding that rapid technological progress should be put into effective use.

In contrast to the MDGs, SDGs consultation process was more inclusive, and the SDGs framework is expected to go far beyond the MDGs, the CPD economist observed. ‘In this context, one may look back to the learnings from MDGs experience for the purposes of drawing lessons for the SDGs implementation.’

On the other hand, the United Nations will have a strong monitoring and review system on progress and implementation stages of 17 SDGs to be adopted in a special summit in New York on September 25-27.

‘We'll have monitoring and review system which will provide everyone with data in a transparent manner,’ said Thomas Gass, UN Assistant Secretary General (ASG) for Policy Coordination, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

Thomas said the goal '16' of the SDGs speaks to peaceful inclusive society, better access to justice and better governance. ‘This is a crucial goal and it was hotly debated.’

He also said it is very important as the Agenda 2030 is being rolled out at national level that dialogue also speaks to these issues. ‘That is how it is going to happen. Progress is really achieved when people hold their leaders accountable.’  

The UN official said if any country wants to hide completely what is happening then the international committee can of course have access to that information.

Responding to a question from UNB, Thomas said the private sector has played a very constructive role in the discussions and negotiations over the last 2-3 years. ‘Everybody should develop its own strategy for sustainable development and the private sector will play a crucial role.’

Specifically on Bangladesh, he said sustainable decent works have to be created for male and female to eradicate poverty. ‘Building the economic resilient, getting private sector on board is very crucial.’

The UN official also said the private sector these days is realizing at the global level that it has to participate in making the environment more stable. He said the companies know they have everything to gain from predictable and more level playing field.  

Describing the importance of the summit, the UN official said the world leaders are not coming here for celebrations rather they are coming here to promise to their people around the world.

Responding to another question, the UN official said the UN will continue to support those countries who wish to get. ‘We're strongly encouraging countries statistics offices to closely work with the civil society.’  

He also mentioned that there will be an annual programme in which countries will be able to make presentations on the progress on goals and targets of SDGs.

This bold and ambitious agenda aims to end poverty and promote prosperity and people's well-being while protecting the environment over the next 15 years.