SDGs

On March 12, the 5th meeting of the Coordination Council for Sustainable Development Goals was held online in Nur-Sultan under the chairmanship of the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Alikhan Smailov.

The meeting was attended by members of the Coordinating Council: government agencies, representatives of internationa.organizations (UN Resident Coordinator, UN Development Program Permanent Representative, Director of the ADB Office in Kazakhstan), and the quasi-public sector (Chairman of the Management Board of Economic Research Institute JSC, Head of International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects JSC, President of "Nazarbayev University").

The meeting was devoted to the discussion of the work carried out in 2020 and progress towards achieving the SDGs in the context of the pandemic, national SDG indicators, the results of the assessment of financing for development and the implementation of the new UN Framework for Sustainable Development for 2021-2025.

Opening the meeting, the Chairman of the Coordinating Council, Alikhan Smailov, noted that in the context of a pandemic, when the world economy is experiencing a downturn, the issue of ensuring sustainable development becomes important not only for the UN member states, but also for the entire world community. This is due to the need to maintain a decent level of well-being of the country's population, which sets the vector for active progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda for the period up to 2030. He also noted the role of the partnership in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and thanked the UN for its support to our country.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan, Michaela Friberg-Storey, and the Director of the ADB Representative Office in Kazakhstan, Nariman Mannapbekov, delivered a welcoming speech.
 
The Permanent Representative of the United Nations Development Programme, Yakup Berish, reported on the support provided by UNDP to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan in accelerating progress towards achieving the SDGs. He also noted the important role of the integrated Strategy for financing the SDGs.

The national coordinators for the five interagency working groups "Prosperity", "People", "Planet", "Peace" and "Partnership" reported on the results of their activities for 2020.

The Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, Magzum Mirzagaliyev, spoke about the ongoing work in the Planeta group to combat climate change and preserve terrestrial ecosystems. The head of the ministry commented on the Action Plan for the implementation of the Concept for the transition of Kazakhstan to a "green economy" for 2021-2030.

The Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Serik Shapkenov noted that within the framework of the working group "People", aimed at eliminating poverty, gender equality, ensuring a healthy life and education, systematic work is being carried out within the framework of existing program documents. He also spoke about the main results of the measures taken within the framework of the reforms. Thus, the introduction of a new state subsidy for large families, regardless of income and in the amount differentiated from the number of children in the family, allowed to increase coverage by 1.7 times.

The Minister of Information and Public Development, Aida Balayeva, reported on the activities of the MIR working group on a safe and peaceful society with strong institutions and justice. She noted that in order to increase the involvement of the civil sector in the process of implementing SDG 16, the Ministry of Information and Public Development in 2020 developed "Methodological Recommendations for the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the Republic of Kazakhstan".

Vice-Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov reported on the ongoing work in "Prosperity" working group. He noted that in 2020, Kazakhstan's rating improved by 12 positions compared to last year - the country took 65th place out of 166 countries.

Kuantyrov also reported on the institutional measures taken to integrate the SDGs into the country's state planning system, explaining that an amendment was made at the legislative level to take into account the SDG indicators in the documents of the State Planning System.

Deputy Foreign Minister Margulan Baymukhan spoke about the global partnership for sustainable development, capacity building and trade. Summing up the work of the Partnership working group in 2020, he noted the importance of measures taken to ensure Kazakhstan's participation in major international events on sustainable development.

The Head of the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nurbolat Aidapkelov, reported on the ongoing work to determine the national indicators of the SDGs until 2030.According to him, to date, 265 national indicators of the SDGs have been brought into line: in the direction of "People" - 89, "Prosperity" - 66, "Planet" - 48, "Peace" - 34, "Partnership" - 28.

As a result of the discussion, the list of national SDG indicators until 2030 was approved.

Recall that in November 2018, the Coordination Council for Sustainable Development Goals was established by the order of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main purpose of this body is to develop proposals and recommendations for the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals in Kazakhstan.The Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the coordinating body of the Council. Economic Research Institute JSC acts as the Secretariat.