– Toshaos council hears

REGION Nine Regional Democratic Council with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has aligned its 2019 budget proposal with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

That budget proposal is being finalised even as the UNDP provides technical support to the RDC in completing the development of its Plan of Action for Regional Development (PARD), which is also being aligned with the SDGs. The PARD is for a period of 10 years.
In addressing the indigenous leaders on Tuesday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Khusiyali Subba explained that the move to align Region Nine’s PARD with the SDGs wherever it is relevant, forms part of the support for the localisation of the SDGs project.

In Guyana, the localisation of the SDGs is occurring at three levels – at the national level under the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS); the regional level under PARD and at the village level under the Village Improvement Plan (VIP). It was explained that the SDGs are being localised by aligning its relevant targets with prioritised development issues in the various strategies and plan.

In Region Nine, Conservation International (CI) between 2016 and 2017 assisting the RDC in setting the foundation for its PARD. Since the start of 2018, UNDP has been offering technical support with the aim of having the document completed by December.
While expressing gratitude to the Government of Guyana(GoG) and UNDP for the support being offered in compiling the Plan of Action for Regional Development, Region Nine Regional Chairman Brian Allicock said his region looks forward to the completion of the 10-year strategic plan which would be used as a model document for the other administrative regions.

Allicock said that even without the completion of PARD and its alignment with the SDGs, the people of Region Nine have been unconsciously addressing many of the issues outlined in the SDGs.
“Most of the Region Nine Toshaos are au fait with it. When we look at their plans, the plans they submit every year for budgetary allocations by the central ministry, when we look at it, they are actually addressing some of these goals that are there,” Allicock told the Guyana Chronicle.

He said there is a great push in the region to reduce poverty within the district and as such greater emphasis is being placed on agriculture production and value-added products.
“So they are focusing on agriculture production and the production of value-added products. So they are establishing these cottage industries, they are looking to better package their products for export,” he further explained.

Attention is also being placed on health, education and infrastructure development by a regional consultative committee, comprising a wide cross-section of stakeholders from the 57 villages within the district. “In the health aspect even though we are experiencing some difficulties with the shortages of drugs, the people are actually going back to the herbal part of it, and are supplementing what is being given by the Health Ministry,” the Regional Chairman pointed out.

The support for the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals Project is one the many initiatives being supported by the UNDP and UN organisations.

In fact, UN agencies present in Guyana are providing support to achieve SDGs through different intervention, however, UNDP within the area of its mandate is assisting with the implementation of 21 projects through several government ministries.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Shabnam Mallick, in addressing the Toshaos and Senior Councillors present, said that UNDP is also supporting the Guyanese Government’s ICT Access and E-Services for Hinterland Poor and Remote Communities.

“Through ICT, not only can public services reach hinterland communities, we can also connect hinterland communities to international markets which would be a boost to eco-tourism,” she posited. Support is also being given to the Amerindian Land Titling Project in keeping with SGDs One, 10 and 13; the Amerindian Development Fund II; Mainstreaming Disaster Management in the Agriculture Sector and Strengthening Disaster Management Capacity of Women.

The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of ideas, initiated by the UN and agreed and adopted by the 193 Member States in September 2015. They have 169 individual targets to be achieved by 2030. While all 17 goals are key for all populations, targets under Goal 2 on Zero Hunger and Goal 4 on education focus on the Indigenous Communities. The UNDP was among organisations, institutions and ministries that presented on various topics before the Toshaos on Day Two of the Annual Conference of the National Toshaos Council (NTC).