SDG delivery, LDC graduation must move together

Bangladesh’s efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and graduate smoothly from the least developed country category must move in tandem, said Irene Khan, the country’s newly appointed permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

The two processes are closely linked and could provide Bangladesh with a rare opportunity to push through long-delayed economic and institutional reforms, she said.

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“This is a window of opportunity that has rarely come in the history of this country for us now to make this huge breakthrough,” she added.

Irene made the remarks at a conference on navigating the five-year strategic framework for achieving SDGs, organised jointly by the General Economics Division of the Planning Commission and the Governance Innovation Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office, held in Dhaka yesterday.

Bangladesh has sought a time-bound extension of its LDC graduation period to ensure a “successful, sustainable and irreversible” transition, she noted.

Irene said the extension request and the final phase of SDG implementation would place a “double incentive” on the government to deliver reforms and accelerate development.

She pointed to several areas identified in the roadmap linked to the graduation request, including reforms to strengthen the financial sector, improving the investment climate, enhancing domestic resource mobilisation, facilitating trade negotiations and negotiating new trade agreements.

“There are lots and lots of these things that we will be doing in the next three years as we also invest and accelerate the delivery of the SDGs,” she said.

Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from the LDC category later this year, although the government has sought an extension of the transition period.

Irene said Bangladesh had made significant progress under the Millennium Development Goals, but achieving the SDGs would be more difficult because they are broader and more interconnected.

“We have lost time as a country,” she said, urging faster implementation during the final phase of the SDGs.

Despite financial constraints, Bangladesh has no shortage of creativity and innovation, Irene said, calling for better use of those strengths.

She also urged the international community to stand by Bangladesh as it pursues both SDG implementation and LDC graduation.

At the event, Prof SM Abdul-Awal, principal coordinator on SDG affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office, urged development partners to provide greater support, including concessional financing, debt relief and technical assistance, to help Bangladesh accelerate progress towards the SDGs by 2030.

He said stronger partnerships and resources were needed to address the needs of marginalised and vulnerable communities.