Inequalities in the society must be cubed to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the government should focus more on people’s interest in its FiveYear Plan.
The observation came at a seminar titled 'People’s Voice: Strengthening SDGs Implementation in Bangladesh', organised by the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) in the city’s Agargaon on Wednesday.
Before making plan we need to focus on the interest of both mainstream and marginal people of the country, pointed out PKSF Chariman Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad.
Curbing disparity in opportunity is required to meet SDG goals as inequalities are gradually increasing in the country, he observed.
“Apart from addressing economic development, we must also focus on social and moral development of the countrymen”, he said.
Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad chaired the event while Abul Kalam Azad, Chief Coordinator for SDG affairs in Prime Minister’s Office, delivered his speech as chief guest.
Director General of NGO Affairs Bureau KM Abdus Salam, and Managing Director of PKSF Abdul Karim spoke at the event as special guests.
Economist Dr. Mustafa K. Mujeri and Tawheed Reza Noor of Dhaka School of Economics presented papers on SDG8 and SDG10 respectively in the programme.
In broad view, there are 169 SDGs goals, and it’s difficult for government to implement all of these goals, said Abul Kalam Azad, adding that the government primarily put emphasis on achieving 39 goals.
Besides, the SDGs cannot be implemented centrally. So the government has taken initiatives to implement them through local administration, he mentioned.
“The motto of SDG10 is to eliminate disparity and inequality in every sector. We need to put importance in curbing inequalities to meet the SDGs. Inequalities in various sectors are increasing and the situation is far worse in rural areas than urban areas”, said Dr Mostafa K. Mujeri.
To achieve sustainable development, stable employment environment and equal opportunity are the key factors, said Tauhida Reza Noor in his presentation. He also mentioned the issue of disparity that exists in the country’s employment opportunities.
In the programme, KM Abdus Salam, Director General of NGO Affairs Bureau, urged the NGOs to extend their scale of work to meet SDGs.