'Media must support Sustainable Development Goals' - UN Rep

Accra, Sept. 10, GNA - Speakers at a media forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have stressed the need for the media to actively advocate for local ownership of the goals and hold implementing actors accountable.

Ms. Christine Evans-Klock, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator for Ghana, who chaired the forum, said once the SDGs are adopted; the media's active participation in this regard would ensure that the universal goals contained in the document result in actions and policies to make a difference in the lives of citizens, rather than stay on paper.

Speaking on the SDGs and Post-2015 Development Agenda in Ghana, Ms Evans-Klock explained that, the SDGs were a build-up on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which will expire at the end of 2015.

She said the SDGs is an attempt to finish the unfinished agenda of the MDGs which were not fully met.

The SGDs were also aimed at setting higher goals to eradicate, rather than reduce poverty, and having higher aspirations in terms of meeting obligations for future generations.

She commended the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) for the initiative to inform the general public about the SDGs, how they came about and their importance in Ghana.

'The SDGs were developed after many years of hard work, through consultations that stretched across 190 countries and which gave voice to civil society, private sector and sought the views of millions of young people,' she noted.

Ghana, she stated, was one of the countries tasked to host a national consultancy on the post 2015 agenda.

The consultations were organized by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), with the UN and other relevant agencies, including civil society organizations, development partners, private sector, religious bodies and others at regional and national levels.

In Ghana, discussions were mainly focused on a better future for young people, including the quality of education and access to decent work, whiles some focused on localizing universal development goals, owning them and mobilizing support to make a difference in Ghana.

She noted that, the ongoing process of developing Ghana's 40-year development plan, of which the first 15 years of it will be informed by the SDGs and pledged the United Nations readiness to assist Ghana in implementation strategies to achieve the goals.

Professor Kwame Karikari, SGD Ambassador in Ghana and Board Member of the MFWA, said the MDGs did not receive the kind of sustained media advocacy; monitoring and coverage that would have added to the gains that were made and commended the MFWA for involving the media in the SDGs from the beginning.

He said compared to the MDGs, the SDGs were broader, going beyond socio-economic issues and thus required all parties to support.

He added that the SDG provided the elements for national consensus on a development agenda that was devoid of any political tinkering and urged political parties to fashion their manifestos based on it.

'In fact, if I was in any powerful position to influence what the political parties in this country ought to do in terms of manifestos for next year, I would recommend that they look at the SDGs and really adopt them in their manifestos so that when they come to power, implementation will be a matter of course,' he stated.

He also urged the media to focus on challenges that appear in the implementation of the goals and also how Ghanaian citizens, like civil society groups were involved in the implementation of the SDGs.

Ms. Christine Asare, SDGs Focal Person in Ghana and member of the National Technical Steering Committee said in assessing the SDGs, there was the need to look at and make sure that all the three pillars that ensure sustainability were at the same level.

She advised that Ghana focuses on the socio-cultural, economic and natural resource issues as well as the Institutional issues, and that, the Environmental Protection Agency had been working with the National Development Planning Commission over the years to streamline these issues.

Speaking on the SDGs and the Post 2015 development agenda processes in Ghana, she stated that, Ghana had conducted broad consultations in three tracks: one focusing on the SDGs themselves, another on how to finance the SDGs and the other to come up with indicators for monitoring the implementation.

She said the UN would formally adopt it at a meeting on September 25, 2015.

She also tasked the media to engage in an awareness drive on the SDGs to make the citizenry aware of them.

Dr. Felix Addo-Yobo, Deputy Director of Environmental Policy at the NDPC said the commission had held national consultations on how to localize the universal goals.

It has also identified some areas of focus such as bad cultural practices and addressing issues like punctuality in Ghana.

Some challenges had also been identified that would be addressed, including weak structures at the local level for the implementation of development plans.

GNA