Experts stress inclusive and sustainable development

KATHMANDU:

Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey has stressed that the Post 2015 Development Agenda should be built based on the achievements and experiences of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and said that they should address three dimensions — social, economic development and environment protection.

So far, the MDGs, an initiative of the United Nations, have largely focused on social development or human development, as per Pandey.

Speaking in the programme titled ‘Post 2015 Development Agenda and 18th SAARC Summit: Nepal’s Perspectives’ organised by South Asian Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Minister Pandey expressed hope that the new global development agenda will be helpful for the graduation of least developed countries to developing countries.

In the programme, Gyan Chandra Acharya, under secretary general at the UN, said that post-2015 development agenda should be more ambitious and wider with targets for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development and this will be a more useful instrument for the underdeveloped world to move forward towards rapid economic progress as well as sustain their economic growth. He also expressed commitment of starting dialogue with SAARC like with other regional organisations like ASEAN and others.

Govind Raj Pokharel, vice chairman of National Planning Commission, stressed on the need to complete

unfinished tasks of the MDGs that are due to end in about a year’s time.

Similarly, Posh Raj Pandey, chairman of SAWTEE said that the post-2015

development agenda should bring forth issues such as full and productive employment, and gender empowerment, that have not been adequately addressed by the MDGs.

Source: THT