UNDP Committed to Helping Governments Meet SDGs Targets

Countries in the Asia Pacific region and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) are joining together this week to try to design, finance, and implement innovative solutions, to faster achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Building on cost-sharing models that have been successfully implemented over nearly three decades, UNDP is committing to work with governments in the region, to help reduce poverty, inequality and exclusion, and to protect vital ecosystems.

To take that commitment forward UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) is hosting a meeting on May 16, in Jakarta, to illustrate how governments can leverage UNDP’s experience and expertise across the developing world.

This first meeting will kick-off a series of important dialogues with the governments in the region. It follows a range of briefings made by RBAP to country officials, as well as individual meetings with ministers and bureaucrats. The meetings have highlighted opportunities for government co-financing for domestic development programmes and projects.  

“Achieving SDG targets will require us to build partnerships and work in innovative ways with a host of government institutions as well as development partners,” said Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP’s Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, and the Director of the Bangkok Regional Hub.

“This conference is an opportunity to foster ideas and discuss how UNDP and governments can best utilize domestic finances to implement projects that accelerate national development.”

As more countries in the region rise into the middle-income ranks and as economies grow, the development landscape is evolving. This changing landscape indicates that the coming decade will witness an increased reliance on domestic funding for development, rather than external assistance, as overseas development aid (ODA) shrinks.

Aid flows will increasingly shift from grants, to loans and trade/commercial related assistance. But even as the development landscape changes and financing undergoes shifts, the need to achieve results, and meet SDG targets persists.

The meeting in Jakarta will include high-level representatives of key government agencies that are responsible for managing development aid with the international institutions.

Follow the meeting’s Twitter conversation on how to build partnerships to achieve the SDGs at #RBAPFuture.