15 Jun 2022

Media is paramount to the attainment of sustainable development. 

For this reason, the Ministry of Finance and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana, facilitated a training workshop to capacitate the media on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The training, held in Palapye, began on June 13 and will end tomorrow. 

The Director of Population and Sustainable Coordination at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Moremi Moremi said the training was intended to aid reporters to consistently write stories articles that promoted nationwide attainment of the 17 SDGs. 

Mr Moremi said government was committed to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, therefore, as part of the domestication process, efforts were being made to align them with national development frameworks, Vision 2036, National Development Plan (NDP 11) as well as district and urban development plans. 

He said other notable initiatives included development of the Domesticated Indicated Framework (DIF), formation of the necessary institutional structure as well as development of the National Roadmap on SDGs to guide implementation efforts at both national and sub-national levels. 

“The roadmap identifies strategic areas to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs in line with National Development Plan (NDP) 11 timelines of 2017-2023,” he said. 

Strategic interventions, he said, were required in all areas to accelerate implementation and enhance achievement of the SDGs. 

Mr Moremi said to advance coherent SDGs advocacy and sensitisation, a National SDGs Communication Strategy had been developed.

He said there was need to forge strategic partnerships with stakeholders, developing information education, and communication (IEC) materials as well as working with academic institutions to develop tailor-made training programmes. 

He said the training programmes would promote development-oriented reporting as well as organising workshops and strategic training programmes for various stakeholders involved in SDGs implementation. 

Moreover, the strategy outlined target audiences as well as their roles and responsibilities in the communication of SDGs, he said. 

“Among those are the media, whom the document recognises as vital players in communicating SDGs to all citizens by providing public awareness through objective and effective reporting on key national and sub-national development issues,” he said. 

Mr Moremi said the media could provide a platform to raise awareness of the SDGs, and present information as to what decision-makers and government actors were, or were not, doing as well as messages of progress and challenges, highlighting the human story behind the data and numbers as well as increasing pressure on governments to take action to implement the SDGs, he said. ends