GoL, partners to launch agenda 2030

The Government of Liberia and partners has announced that it will officially launch the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 26 – 27, 2016 which sets the stage for the domestication and implementation of Agenda 2030 in Liberia over the next 15 years.

The national launch, which takes place at the Monrovia City Hall, is hosted under the auspices of the Government of Liberia in partnership with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN), private philanthropist Dr. Betsee Parker, United Nations Country Team, Save the Children International, and other partners.

According to the organizers, the launch aims to announce Liberia’s endorsement of the Agenda 2030 and registers the country’s commitment to this shared global vision over the next 15 years ending December 2030; create public awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and chart the way forward for the domestication and integration of the Agenda 2030 SDGs into Liberia’s development programmes for implementation.

The Agenda 2030 contains 17 lofty and ambitious goals with 169 targets referred to as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which addresses environmental, economic, and social challenges facing the world today.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, one of the three co-chairs of the Secretary-General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Agenda, will launch the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in Liberia.

The two-day national event will be characterized by series of interactive dialogue on the Agenda 2030, Addis Ababa Action Agenda, African Union’s Agenda 2063, and Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation (AfT) so as to draw synergy between these development plans for effective implementation of the SDGs in Liberia.

Participants to the event will include government officials, UN Country Team, foreign and bilateral partners, local and international non-governmental organizations, academia, youth, civil society, women and religious groups, private sector, business community and the media.

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (known as Agenda 2030) on September 2015 in New York, United Nations member states have been encouraged to integrate the new global development framework into their respective national development agenda as stated in Paragraph 78 of the Agenda 2030 document.

The Agenda 2030 replaces the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expired in December 31st, 2015, as the new pathway for realizing a sustainable and transformative global development. The successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires the full participation of all stakeholders including national governments, civil society, private sector, academia, and the media to realize a successful process.

Meanwhile, the Director UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Sustainable Development Goals, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, at the head of high-level delegation, arrived in the country late Sunday, January 24, 2016, to participate in the launch of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in Liberia. While in the country on a two-day visit, Professor Sachs and delegation will pay a courtesy call on President Sirleaf, the leadership of the National Legislature, as well as hold a public awareness event with students and youths at the University of Liberia auditorium. He will also hold consultations with major stakeholders associated with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Professor Sachs, a world-renowned professor of economics and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, will also meet with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General and Coordinator of UN Operations in Liberia, UN Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team, among others.-Press release