| James Kon |
BRUNEI Darussalam has made a number of key achievements under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Among these include succeeding in providing clean and safe water to 100 per cent of its population under SDG6, while 93 per cent of the country’s residents enjoy access to improved sanitation systems.
Brunei has also attained a land and home ownership rate of 63 per cent among its population as per the SDG1 and SDG5 indicators.
Sharing these statistics and Brunei Darussalam’s plans of actions in fulfilling the other SDGs was Deputy Minister of Development Haji Marzuke bin Haji Mohsin in his address at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Knowledge Platform Meeting held on Friday in Bali, Indonesia.
The meeting, among other objectives, aimed to promote collaboration between ASEAN member states to achieve the SDGs in addition to building synergies with the ASEAN 2025 blueprint.
The meeting included a keynote address by Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs as well as reports from other ASEAN member states on their SDG achievements.
The Ministry of Development delegation attended the forum on SDG entitled ‘Localising the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals: Act Locally on a Global Scale’, which featured a keynote address by forum chairman Minister of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) of Indonesia Bambang P S Brodjonegoro.
Attending the meeting alongside the deputy minister were Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Development Haji Amer Hishamuddin bin Pehin Orang Kaya Amar Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Zakaria, and a senior officer from the Public Works Department, Ministry of Development.
Several ASEAN member state delegations also took part in the meeting which was held in parallel with the World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting 2018.
The ‘ASEAN Forum for Ministers Responsible for Development Planning on Implementing: the Sustainable Development Goals’ meanwhile, was attended by six ministers and representatives from a number of ASEAN member countries such as Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore and Indonesia, including Timor Leste.