Despite moderate progress, most SDG targets addressed

Cambodia started the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, with the aim of driving more action into critically important areas in the country.

The country has set targets for 109 SDGs out of a total of 169 goals identified under the programme.

The “Asean-China-UNDP Symposium on Localising the SDGs and Realising Poverty Eradication” will be held in Siem Reap on Monday.

The two-day event will focus on the implementation of the SDGs in Asean in the context of complementarities between the Asean Vision 2025 and the SDGs.

For the purpose of this symposium, SDG localisation is defined as follows:

Strengthening enabling environment for policy coherence and cohesion between the national and local levels on SDGs.

Translating SDGs into priorities that are relevant, applicable and attainable at the local level.

Enhancing partnerships for cooperation, financing, and implementation of SDG-related initiatives.

The United Nations replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 after realising that they were not sufficient to address the necessary changes needed in countries like Cambodia.

The 2030 ‘Sustainable Development Agenda’ is promoted as more participatory and equitable than the MDGs. Cambodia aligned its SDGs with its local development strategies, basing them on the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2014–2018.

The SDGs is generally known as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Cambodia assembled representatives from each government ministry and development partners as well as participating UN agencies to review the targets and indicators of each SDGs. The aim was to adapt them to the country’s unique set of needs.

Considering the breadth of issues set by the SDG targets, Cambodia has achieved a considerable lot, particularly in addressing poverty.

The country’s commitment to reach these goals won recognition from the European Council on Tourism and Trade.

The agency appointed Prime Minister Hun Sen as a global ambassador for tourism and sustainable development goals last December.

With continuous efforts, the country is likely to move on from ‘least developed country’ status within a decade, but it will need to diversify its sources of funding to achieve its SDG goals.

Out of the 169 SDG targets in Cambodia, 60 are not being considered for various reasons. 43 cannot be assessed from existing policies in the country, four are regarded as “not applicable” to Cambodia and 13 are not being considered due to lack of information on external policies and institutions.

The government said it will not outline new strategies for achieving the SDGs until the National Strategic Development Plan (NSPD) 2019–2022 is established.

Of the 109 SDG targets set by Cambodia, 85 (78 percent) are already being addressed by national strategic planning processes and policies. Seventeen targets have been partially addressed, while seven have not been tackled at all so far.

The planners are using the NSDP as a barometer to measure the success or failure of the targets. They found that gaps in existing policies occur for several reasons, with the main one being a lack of ambition in existing government policies.

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