Representative of SDGs National Network Nepal met with Vice-Chair of National Planning Commission Hon. Dr. Pushpa Raj Kadel (who is also the Chair of SDGs Implementation and Coordination Committee of Federal Government) at his office in Singh Darbar Kathmandu. Main objective of delegation was to demand the Government to make the Voluntary National Review (VNR) process of SDGs inclusive, participatory and open. Delegates asked the Vice-chair to follow the VNR Guideline and FUR document prepared by UN-DESA and to ensure the participation civil society major groups including poor, women, NGOs, marginalized communities in the VNR process. Delegation also raised the concerns about the participation of local governments and their associations since local governments are major implementers of SDGs. Delegates also shed lights on the burning issues of the development in the context of Nepal including brain drain, muscle drain, severe impacts of climate change.
Delegates handed over a Suggestion Paper and the Letter on 2020 Emergency Call to Action to Transform our World https://watch.globalgoals.org/. Letter on Emergency Call is related with the open letter signed by the civil society activists, development professionals, think-tanks, and prominent peoples of different sectors of the world. In response, Hon. Vice-Chair briefly informed about the implementation status of SDGs and ongoing VPR process. He informed “a team of consultants have been collecting data on the progress indicators of SDGs, they will provide a draft report very soon, and then report writing process will start”. He assured “We will try our best to involve all the stakeholder in the process”.
The delegates also informed about the Voluntary Peoples Review of SDGs (VPR 2020) and informed him “it is not the parallel process, but the civil society groups may have their own reflections and perspectives towards the progress as well as in process of the country”. It was informed that “the VPR 2020 report will feed into the Government-led VNR report and it will count the voices of marginalized people and excluded groups, considering Leaving No One Behind – the core principle of the 2030 Agenda.”