‘SDG Tracker’ & Publication on South South launched

A high-level side event titled ‘SDG Implementation, Financing and Monitoring, and Sharing Innovations through South-South and Triangular Cooperation’ held on 20 September 2017 in UN Headquarters, New York, organized by Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in partnership with UNDP and UN-OSSC (UN Office on South-South Cooperation). Along with the opening statement of H. E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; H. E. Ms. KerstiKaljulaid, President of Estonia; H. E. Mr. Eugene Rhuggenaath, Prime Minister of Curacao, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and H.E. Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Nepal also given their statements. 

In her opening statement Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed a new slogan to achieve the SDGs: “If you want to go far and fast, innovate together.” she also added that “In today’s world, it is possible to leapfrog along the development pathway by combining vision with innovation."

The event was designed to make progress towards actualizing the South-South Network for Public Service Innovations proposed by the PM in last year’s UNGA side-event. This event provided an opportunity for Heads of States and Governments, policymakers and development practitioners to share knowledge and experience on good practices in advancing South-South Cooperation Framework. Bangladesh has been proactive in sharing its achievements in public service innovation with the governments of Fiji, Benin, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, and Singapore, among others.

Mr. Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, Access to Information (a2i), Prime Minister’s Office, the Government of Bangladesh gave a presentation on Bangladesh’s South-South Cooperation and SDG Tracker. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh launched the SDG Tracker (www.sdg.gov.bd) and Bangladesh-UNOSSC joint publication on “South-South in Action: Citizen-friendly Public Service Innovation in Bangladesh”. Bangladesh has developed an innovative whole-of-government tracking, measurement and analytics platform called the SDG Tracker. Many countries of the South have expressed intent and taken measures to track progress towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Ambassador Masud Bin Momen, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh made the welcome remarks and Mr. Jorge Chediek, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on South-South Cooperation and Director, UN Office for South-South Cooperation concluded the session. A high level panel discussion was moderated by Mr. AbulKalam Azad, Principal Coordinator (SDG Affairs), Government of Bangladesh. H. E. Mr. Pascal IrenéeKoupaki, Minister of State and Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Benin; H. E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand; H. E. Ms. Evelyn Anite, State Minister of Finance for Investment and Privatization of Uganda; Ms. FekitamoelaoKatoa, Under-Secretary General and UN High Representative for LDC, LLDCs and SIDS; Mr. Zumi Zola Zulkifli, Governor, Jambi Province, Indonesia; Mr. Agustin Garcia-Lopez, Executive Director, Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation; Mr. Rodger Voorhies, Executive Director, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Mr. Bjorn Lomborg, President, Copenhagen Consensus Center joined as panelists. 

With the aim of realizing the Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021 announced by the H.E. Prime Minister of Bangladesh, a2i programme is working to increase transparency, improve governance and public services and to reduce inefficiencies in their delivery for underserved communities. These initiatives go to the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).