Ethiopia's National SDG consultation explores mainstreaming, finance and M&E

April 29, 2019

There is really no scarcity of global resources to meet development goals, State Minister Dr. Abraham Tekeste of Ethiopia’s National Planning Commission (NPC) boldly noted to participants attending a national consultation workshop on the rollout of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The state minister followed up his statement on financing for development goals by underlining the pivotal role played by the presence or absence of political will and commitment to meeting any of the global development commitment. The State Minister echoed the critical importance of financing for development in order to achieve the 2030 agenda.  He underlined the critical role of international development actors in financing SDGs.

Ethiopia’s national consultation workshop, organized by the NPC and the UN Country Team (UNCT), brought together key stakeholders from the public, private and civil society to explore synergies between the SDGs and national plan, innovation around accessing financing, as well as strengthening the country’s M&E system. Mr. Faustin Yao promised that, “The UN and partners will support national efforts towards strengthening the monitoring and evaluation system in the context of the data revolution agenda. “He noted that the UN system is committed to support the Government in conducting SDGs needs assessment, partnering to build the capacity in  domestic resource mobilization and to support awareness and sensitization of the SDGs across the different regions in the country.

National Planning Commissioner Dr. Yinager Dessie used the opportunity to acknowledge the partnership between the government and the UN in implementing and monitoring global goals, noting, “The UNCT has been our key partner in deepening the integration of Millennium Development Goals, and reporting on MDGs progress. I would consider the current partnership as a deepening of the already established partnership in integration of global agenda into our national development plans and strategies.”


Opening the workshop, Speaker of the House of People’s Representative, H.E. Yalew Abate noted that, “The House shall also have the responsibility of ensuring the SDGs are given appropriate consideration during implementation of GTP II and that the sectoral reports reflect the extent of progress on achievement of SDG targets.”
Participants underlined the fact that while the SDGs call for strong multi-stakeholder partnerships, including south-south cooperation, successful implementation rests on the principles of national ownership and leadership in the domestication and implementation of the 2030 agenda.

The meeting also highlighted the need to prioritize selected SDGs for Ethiopia and undertake a costing exercise taking into account the framework of the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action (AAAA), particularly in terms of leveraging domestic resource mobilization through strengthening the capacity on taxation, ensuring effective utilization of domestic resources, scaling up international tax administration practices, and avoidance of harmful tax practices.

The National Planning Commission  is undertaking an exercise to build on Ethiopia’s current five-year development plan to develop a 15 year perspective plan (2016-2030) to allow the country fully alignment with SDGs. UNDP has pledged to support the formulation process and to mobilize the available  UNCT resources to meet this goal.