23 Jul 2019

Local authorities have been called upon to adopt Agenda 2030 and its 17 SDGs to the level of their communities.

The call was made by Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen when officially opening a week-long national planners seminar in Maun on Monday,  

He said the SDGs were a commitment to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide by 2030.
Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen said it was time the SDGs were incorporated into annual plans,

Saying planners were critical to the development of local economies, he said they should complement each other’s efforts whether they with government, private sector or civil organisations.

“There is untapped opportunities that can be developed to transform local economies,” he said.

The minister challenged local authorities to be innovative and bring about new frameworks and laws to change ways of doing business.

By doing so, he explained,  communities would be at par with the whole world.

Contributing during a panel discussion, UNDP SDGs project manager, Ms Boitumelo Gofhamodimo called for the monitoring of separate development goals being implemented to measure progress.

Department of Local Government and Development Planning director Mr Mompati Seleka stressed the need to capacitate political and community leadership to ensure localisation of SDGs.

In addition, he said budgeting should be aligned with SDGs.

Ngamiland Council of Governmental Organisations (NCONGO) representative Mr Siyoka Simasiku lamented lack of communication between implementers and communities.

He said government and civil organisations ought to collaborate to realise anticipated results.

Ms Thandiwe Majama,, representing Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, said the main challenge was that many community members were not sensitised on SDGs.ENDS