By: Shallom Lumor | Voltaonlinegh.com |
The Assistant Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ghana, Mr. Louis Kuukpen has observed that increased partnership from all stakeholders will drive maximum support for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He made the remark on Wednesday during the Ghana Finance Summit 2018 held on the theme, “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Innovative Financing”.
Mr. Kuukpen underscored the need for greater commitment across all sectors and industries to strengthen and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development as emphasised by the SDG 17.
He said, “the level of funding needed for the implementation of the SDGs surpasses government capacity given the volumes of resources required. There is thus, the need for increased partnership and for all sectors to get involved.”
Citing statistics from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, he stated that an annual investment of between $5-7 trillion is required globally for the achievement of the SDGs by 2030, hence the need to mobilise funds through innovative ways.
“As the SDGs emphasise localised implementation, there is the obvious need to engineer partnerships with the private sector and philanthropy locally. We need at this moment to explore all innovative instruments being domestic or foreign such as blended finance, development impact bonds, green bonds, trust bonds, challenge funds, guarantees, impact investment and many more.”
The UNDP Assistant Country Director also advised on judicious use of Ghana’s natural resources, ensuring that the cedi counts trough accountability, transparency and equitable allocation of resources so that no one is left behind in the achievement of the SDGs.
The Head of the SDG Advisory Unit of the Office of the President, Dr. Eugene Owusu also called on all stakeholders to join hands with the government to push the SDGs. He urged the youth who “represent both today and the future” to come up with creative and innovative ideas to facilitate the implementation of the global goals.
The Ghana Finance Summit brought together financial and business leaders to share ideas, discuss the latest market developments and financial trends in Ghana. It was organised by Precise Communications in collaboration with Financial Inclusion Forum Africa, ARK Events Ghana, GEN Ghana and with support from other partners including UNDP.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com
