Opinions of Tuesday, 11 April 2017

Columnist: Seth Krampah

Daasebre questions the sustainability of the UNSDGs

Daasebre Prof (Emeritus) Oti Boateng Daasebre Prof (Emeritus) Oti Boateng

Daasebre Prof(Emeritus) Oti Boateng, an eminent Ghanaian Traditional Ruler and United Nations Commissioner on the International Civil Service Commission,has observed that the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) though laudable, lacks the basic Community Development Substratum to attain implementation efficiency and sustainability.

He acknowledged that the agenda for sustainable development is well-crafted with respect to its 17 goals and 169 targets but its major fault-line remains the lack of a functional community development process mechanism to anchor its implementation and sustainability.

Daasebre shared these views at the Statistics Division of the United Nations when the Director, Mr Stefan Schweinfest, presented him with a booklet honouring him and 32 other distinguished Chairpersons who have guided the United Nations Statistical Commission during the past 70 years.

According to Daasebre, a well-refined Community Development Receptive Strategy is the basic development requirement to under gird any quest for sustainable development. He pointed out that the communities, which are the vectors of development and legitimate owners of these processes,must be deeply involved in the planning and implementation to ensure its success.

He has thus called fora sustainable community development model to be adopted asa major pathway to put communities in the front-burner for the implementation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations should play the vital role of a facilitator of the programme while nation states and communities therein fuse a veritable linkage to ensure a smooth and successful implementation.