තිරසර සංවර්ධන, වනජීවී සහ ප්‍රාදේශීය සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශය

Introduction

The Sustainable Development Act No 19 of 2017 provides the legal framework for preparing a National Strategy to facilitate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in achieving the SDGs in Sri Lanka. The responsibility of preparing this strategy has been vested in the Sustainable Development Council established under the Act. Due to the delay in the appointment of the Council, the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Wildlife & Regional Development (MSDWRD) as the Ministry in charge of sustainable development, formed a Sustainable Development Division inside the Ministry in 2016 to undertake the activities are supposed to be executed by the Sustainable Development Council, until its establishment. Initiation to prepare the SDG National Strategy in late 2017 was one of these activities undertaken by the division.
In this regard the MSDWRD prepared a term of reference for a consultant to assist the Ministry to prepare this Strategy. The Ministry also could secure the technical and financial support from SDGAP project of USAID as well. Through this support, the Ministry could select and appoint an international as well as national consultant to undertake this task. The appointed consultants are:

Dr Anuradha Rajivan, International Consultant

Dr Anuradha is a retired officer of Indian Administrative Service. She has a PhD in Economics and has worked with the ADB. She served in the UN for ten years UNDP’s Poverty Practice Leader for Asia Pacific. Further, she has worked on World Bank and IFAD projects, revenue and development administration, later moving to policy work.

Mr T M Jayasekara, National Consultant

Mr Jayasekara holds a Bachelor’s Degree, B.Sc in Civil Engineering from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 1969 and MBA from University of Colombo. During his period of work in development projects, both national and foreign funded by International Funding Institutions.

Broad Objectives of the National Strategy are:

•     To accelerate progress towards the SDGs by 2030
•     Deepen and spread awareness on sustainable development and the SDGs across all implementing agencies and other stakeholders
•     Draw from global experiences and adapt locally
•     Strengthen the evidence base, results-orientation and monitoring for better accountability
•     Increase coordination within government and between government and non-government agencies
•     Expand options on financing for development
•     Institutionalize the actions for mainstreaming across stakeholders

Progress so far

• Bilateral discussions were held with the relevant staff at the President office, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs,         Department of National Planning, Department of Project Management & Monitoring and the Department of Census & Statistics
• A discussion was held with civil society representatives.
• Studied global experiences on models practiced by other countries
• Studied the national policies, laws and instructional structures
• A Consultation Workshop on the findings made through the above discussion and studies was held on 23rd August 2018.

The Consultation Workshop was attended by a wide group of stakeholders including officers from the Presidential Secretariat, Parliamentary Select Committee on Sustainable Development, Ministry of National Policies Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Census & Statistics, Auditor General’s Department, Department of Project Management & Monitoring, Central Bank, Institute of Policy Studies, United Nations Development Programme, Academia Experts and Civil Society Organizations.