Nisar Memon reflects on sustainable development

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

“It’s time to reflect once again as to where we stand in the comity of nations and where we are going. A debater can argue on both sides of the stage, a demagogue can harangue endlessly without substance, but the thinking people reflect in the context of security and sovereignty of the country,” Senator Nisar Memon, a former federal minister, remarked during an interview with PNFS.

“Let’s look at our status from just one international prism of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were adopted in 2015 by all member states of the United Nations following the earlier Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We have to find out where we have not been able to do well,” he opined.

“The Sustainable Development Report (SDR) 2020 places Pakistan at 134th position (out of 166) in the SDG Index with score of 56.2 against a regional average score of 67.2 and top most score of 84.7 of Sweden. The report was launched at a webinar last week by its authors with the United Nations Secretary-General’s special adviser Prof Jeffrey Sach, and professionals from the world over in attendance,” Senator Nisar Memon pointed out. 

“The 17 SDGs, also known as Global Goals, cover a broad range of subjects ranging from poverty to economy, health to education, water to energy, climate actions to protecting planet, innovation and infrastructure, peace and justice to partnership for the future. The member countries were closely involved in developing goals and sub-goals thus were committed to pursue them,” he added. 

“The highest priority of every government must remain the suppression of the pandemic. There can be no economic recovery while the pandemic is raging,” he narrated the first of the six key findings of the SDR 2020.

“The report indicates that COVID-19 impacts are amplified for the most vulnerable groups. We in Pakistan have witnessed how it has impacted vulnerable people with resultant sufferings,” he regretted. 

The former federal minister revealed that the Korean Crisis Management Committee on COVID-19 was headed by their Prime Minister to achieve the remarkable results putting Korea at 20th position. 

“They had effective awareness with transparent communication of the programs developed with participation of concerned people with trust which helped implement actions. In addition, vigorous testing was their hallmark in the success,” he shared. 

“The lead countries recognized the strong nexus between health and security. The far sighted leadership continued to recalibrate policies and programs of crisis and not justifying as to who was right or wrong. The research community was effectively involved in crisis avoidance for future,” he noted. 

“The report confirms that the countries which had responded to SDGs since 2015 also responded more effectively so far to the Covid-19. SDGs are all about governance, development and improving the living standards of the world. Yet, even after 4 days of launch of SDR2020 we did not see any report, news, or views in our media. Will one who is leading tell citizens: Where do we stand on catching up on SDGs?” he questioned.