Rio+20: Poverty reduction key to sustainable development – Gbeneol
From right: Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Dr Precious Gbeneol presenting documented deliverables of MDGs in Nigeria to President Idriss Deby of Chad
As world leaders and stakeholders gather in Rio de Janeiro to deliberate on ways of ensuring sustainable development across the globe, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Dr Precious Kalamba Gbeneol has emphasised the importance of placing poverty reduction at the heart of efforts to develop a new global development agenda.
Dr Gbeneol made this assertion at the ongoing United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development otherwise known as Rio+20 holding in Brazil.
According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director of Information, Mrs K.N Offie, Dr Gbeneol argued that the world must integrate the three pillars of development into one new whole.
She opined that a robust post-MDGs development framework that integrates the social, economic and environmental dimensions must be critically considered in order to produce a global development agenda that is equitable, practical, inclusive and universally acceptable.
She further stated that for sustainable development to be truly effective, the problem of extreme poverty and hunger must be holistically addressed, adding that this has been the propelling force behind the activities of the MDGs office Nigeria.
In her speech on developing a post-2015 framework which puts poverty eradication and sustainability at its core, Gbeneol stated that “a successful post-MDGs development framework must of necessity be borne out of the outcomes of participatory and inclusive consultations organised to deliberately involve the world’s vulnerable.”
She added that “processes leading to the formulation of a credible post-MDGs framework must therefore critically examine the socio-economic dynamics of development in the context of a well-managed environment so as to produce a fiscal compact that is people-focused and environmentally friendly.”
Stressing further, the SSAP-MDGs stated that “it was generally agreed that a post-2015 development framework which puts poverty eradication and sustainability at its core should generally foster better co-ordination of the development activities across all implementing agencies so as to address the issues of overlaps, duplications, ownership, utilisation and sustainability.
“The global development agenda should tie resources and expenditures to clearly defined deliverables. The framework should contain strict timelines for measuring deliverables, milestones and achievements.
“While recognising that the MDGs have made great social and economic impact in development planning and execution in Nigeria, there is the need to emphasise that the successor framework must be people-centered, inclusive and equitable with gender parity playing a central role.” Gbeneol stated.
At the end of the conference, world leaders are expected to come up with definitive outcomes and commitments that will enable the charting of the worlds sustainable development agenda.
Filed Under: World Stage
