KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 18

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said more investment in people, support for structural transformation and achievement of rapid and sustainable recovery from the COVID pandemic was necessary for achieving the sustainable development goals.

Saying that scaling up affordable finance to the Least Developed Countries, including through the SDG stimulus package is crucial, PM Dahal stated that commitment and support of international community was significant for adoption of the Doha Programme of Action, a 10-year plan 'to tap into the potential of the LDCs.' Addressing the 2023 SDG Summit as chair of the Group of LDCs at the UN headquarters in New York today, PM Dahal said, 'Halfway to the 2030 deadline, we are seriously offtrack in achieving the SDGs.'

Stating that materialising the SDGs is Nepal's top development priority, PM Dahal said the SDGs have been integrated into the national policies and plans. 'We are committed to eradicating poverty and reducing inequality in line with the 2030 Agenda and the principle of leaving no one behind,' he shared. He also reiterated Nepal's commitment to ensuring a smooth, sustaina-ble and irreversible graduation from the LDC category by 2026.

PM Dahal said the SDGs was in dire need of a rescue plan. He mentioned the UN Secretary General's SDG Report stating that more than half of the world, particularly from the LDCs, is left behind.

'The global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and geo-political tensions are further pushing our hard-earned progress into peril,' PM Dahal said. He stated that twelve out of seventeen goals and at least 18 out of 169 targets refer explicitly to the LDCs, recognising the im-portance of addressing their development challenges. 'And yet, foreign direct investment flows to the LDCs saw a decline of about 30 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021,' he added.

PM Dahal shared that investments in infrastructure, renewable energy, water and sanitation, food security, health and education had suffered a significant blow. He also shared that the average external debt of the LDCs rose from 41 per cent to 54 per cent in the last one decade.

'However, we have not lost our faith, nor have we derailed our commitments. We have continued to make maximum effort to strengthen and mobilise our domestic resources and institutions,' PM Dahal said. He also stressed the need to address the issue of debt distress of the LDCs by 2025 and provide coordinated and appropriate debt solutions in a timely manner.

'Finance is the fuel that drives the progress of the SDGs. The achievement of the SDGs in the LDCs defines its success or failure,' he said.

'We also urge the developed countries to scale up and fulfil their commitments to providing 0.7 per cent of gross national products as official development assistance to the developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent to the LDCs,' PM Dahal said.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 19, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.