GUYANA has made progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly in the area of environmental preservation; it however continues to experience challenges in the provision of quality education and health services, infrastructure and access to concessionary financing, human capacity and data gaps.

Guyana’s Foreign Secretary Carl Greenidge made these pronouncements when he gave a detailed report on the country’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), at the high-level political forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The political forum was held recently at the UN’s Headquarters in New York.

During his presentation of the country’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) report to ECOSOC, the foreign secretary said progress had been made in a number of areas, including in preservation of the environment; he pointed out challenges being faced in the provision of quality education and health services, infrastructure, access to concessionary financing, human capacity, and data gaps.

He also explained that the preparatory process had proven to be useful in consolidating national progress in implementing the SDGs, particularly in the context of Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy – Vision 2040.

Minister of State Dawn Hastings-Williams who led the delegation, while offering her perspective as an indigenous educator with over two decades of experience in the hinterland, emphasised that the delivery of educational services was especially challenging.

Director, Office of the Budget, Ministry of Finance, Sonya Roopnauth, however said that efforts are being made by Guyana to integrate the monitoring of the SDGs in the national planning and budgeting framework. She noted the efforts being taken to address the challenge of significant data gaps.

Guyana was one of 47 United Nations member states to present their reports on implementation of the SDGs to the ECOSOC forum. So far, more than 150 states, including five Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, have reported.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for global peace and prosperity. In a report on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda (A/69/700) the United Nations noted that “we must give meaning to the organisation’s promise… to take the world forward to a sustainable future.”

Among members of the Guyana delegation were Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Gerald Gouveia; Director, Global and Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Troy Torrington; and SDGs Focal Point, Guyana Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Dr Olney Daly.