Speaker urges more of such forums for social workers, teachers, etc

Parliament is the one that actually reviews and passes law for the country.

Those were the words of Speaker of Parliament, Dr Jiko Luveni while opening a Fiji Multi Stakeholder Dialogue on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Education.

The SDGs are a United Nations Initiative officially known as Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is a set of 17 aspirational “GlobalGoals” with 169 targets between them.

Dr Luveni said the SDGs and targets require action by Governments and stakeholders, which often require legislative and policy reform; and Parliament was a key institution in these processes.

“The Inter-Parliament Union notes that to be successful, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires engaged and committed Parliaments in order to enable governments to act, while holding them accountable to their commitments,” she said.

“Parliaments are at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals. As SDG 16 suggests, strong, transparent, accountable and inclusive institutions are key for the achievement of all of the goals. So this is why the Fijian Parliament needs to take an active part in the progressing of the SDGs.”

Dr Luveni also outlined the activities of Parliament to mainstream the SDGs into its work like legislative scrutiny, civic education and capacity-building for Members of Parliament and the secretariat, Speakers Debate on the SDGs and key development issues, Parliament Diary dedicated to the SDGs and a tool that is readily available to MPs and gender mainstreaming to ensure MPs work includes gender-based analysis as mandated through the Standing Orders.

“The SDGs are not simply goals of governments, policymakers or of international organisations, but are goals that affect all of us as individuals and communities; thus we need to take greater interest in them and express some ownership,” Dr Luveni said.

“Thus I would therefore encourage more of these forums where we should not only be looking at SDG implementation and monitoring, but also get people like social workers, teachers, educators and ordinary citizens to understand what the SDGs are and the principles behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

High officials from the Ministry of Education, USP, UNDP, PIFS, development partners, selected CSOs and observers from New Zealand, Pacific Island countries namely Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa and Solomon Islands were part of the dialogue.

The event was organised by the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE).

Source: Parliament News

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