Speakers in parliaments of the South Asian countries yesterday unanimously said that the region’s post-2015 goals could be reached by strengthening parliamentary processes, especially by fostering government-led dialogue on issues of global importance.
They said that accountability and budgetary scrutiny were key components of good governance, and that the best practices in parliament could be shared among the governments.
The 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals covers some targets that affect the region collectively, requiring parliamentarians to meet their colleagues to collaborate and consider options at the trans-national level, they said at the two day-long Speakers’ Summit held at a city hotel yesterday.
Speakers of Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan, and the deputy speaker of Sri Lanka attended the event styled South Asian Speakers’ Summit on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It was organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in cooperation with the Bangladesh Parliament and with the support of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury said that the Bangladesh government was working to achieve the SDGs and that health is one of the most focused areas. To achieve the goals, the government and parliament need to work together while parliament should be more vigilant.
She also urged the lawmakers to formulate a proper strategy and monitoring system to achieve the goals.
India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that the South Asia region has immense potential in growth and development.
“As parliamentarians and speakers of the national parliaments, it is our duty to turn the existing challenges into opportunities for our people and also for the entire region,” she said, adding that the larger goals were intertwined with the issue of regional connectivity and cooperation.
Referring to the popular saying that the 21st century belongs to Asia, she said: “If that were so, the South Asian region, with its tremendous potential in terms of human resources and various other resources, has a pivotal role to make it happen. This can come about only when we are able to surmount the challenges before our countries and the South Asian region as a whole.”
Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, speaker of the People’s Majilis of Maldives, said that the agenda was a promise for action for the people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. “We hailed the new agenda when it was adopted. Surely, the SDG targets are attainable.”
He suggested that the South Asian speakers could pick themes from the SDGs and meet regularly to deliberate on what the parliaments can contribute to achieving the targets at the national level.
Jigme Zangpo, speaker of the National Assembly of Bhutan, said that the 2030 Agenda for SDGs were ambitious and comprehensive, and in this context, democracy and development must go hand in hand complementing and mutually reinforcing each other.
“Regional partnership should underpin the new development goals. South Asian nations have their own successes and failures which can be shared on a regional platform creating a win-win situation for the nations,” Zangpo said.
Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi, speaker of the Wolesi Jigra National Assembly of Afghanistan, also addressed the opening ceremony, chaired by IPU President Saber Hossain Chowdhury.
