Jointly organized by the IPU and the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, the Fifth Interregional Seminar on the Achievement of the SDGs provided parliaments from developing countries with the opportunity to share experiences and good practices on how to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Some 30 MPs from ten developing countries including Cambodia, Guyana, Honduras, Kiribati, Laos, Maldives, South Africa, Suriname and Thailand participated in this year’s seminar entitled “Stronger Inter-parliamentary Exchanges for Better Achievement of the SDGs,” which took place at the NPC in Beijing from 6 to 8 July.
This is the fifth year that the NPC has hosted parliamentarians from developing countries for the annual seminar. The seminars offer parliaments the opportunity to exchange ideas and build their knowledge on the SDGs. Themes this year included promoting economic recovery, trade, and investment in green and sustainable growth.
The seminar is timely with the latest UN Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report showing a lack of progress, with estimates that just 12% of the SDG targets for 2030 are on track.
IPU Secretary General, Martin Chungong, thanked the NPC for organizing the seminar and for bringing together parliamentarians from developing countries. He said, “Political will and engagement are definitely essential ingredients for success; however, they should be combined with other important elements such as collaboration and coordinated actions, aligned with the international commitments that countries have made. Parliamentarians have the power to enact positive changes. As representatives of the people, and through their parliamentary responsibilities, they can help boost the change we want to see in the world.”
