‘Lack of info a major hurdle to attaining SDGs’

Staff Correspondent: Planning Minister MA Mannan said dearth of information is a major obstacle to attaining 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the government.

The minister said this while inaugurating “SDGs: Bangladesh Progress Report-2018” at the NEC conference room in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area on Sunday.

PM’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman spoke at the programme as the chief guest while General Economics Division (GED) Member of the Planning Commission Dr Shamsul Alam was in the chair.

Renowned economist Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman, and UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo also spoke on the occasion.

“Contribution of individual sector is very crucial to attain SDGs. But in some cases, there is lack of information. In some cases, there is lack of reliable information. Again, in some cases, there is no information at all. Statistics has important role to play in achieving SDGs across the country,” Mannan said.

Highlighting the country’s development, the minister said huge progress in the expansion of internet has been noticeable in the country. Progress of electricity is unimaginable.

Eminent economist Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said this sort of report generates demand for data creation and shows what the shortcomings are and what the present trend is.

Noting that there are some positive developments on SDGs over the last three years, he said that Bangladesh has a good platform for attaining the SDGs.

Prof Wahiduddin mentioned that the tax-GDP ratio is still not so satisfactory and needs to be enhanced, there is a need for more spending in health and education, maternal and child mortality rates need to be further reduced while increasing spending on the social sector is also a challenge.

PM’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman said Bangladesh is fully committed to achieve the SDGs.

UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo highlighted that addressing the issues of employment generation and skills training, growing concentration of wealth, rising inequality, and gender inequality would be the challenges for the government in the coming days in attaining the SDGs.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 3, 2019/Hasibul/AI