Representatives of the Tuzla, Una-Sana and West Herzegovina cantons, as well as eight municipalities and cities, signed today the Agreement on Localization of the Sustainable Development Goals in Sarajevo, which means that in the coming period, they will work to achieve 17 goals, which, among other things, include quality education, economic growth and gender equality.
Cantons, municipalities and cities will act with UN partners in BiH in the direction of solving the main challenges in development, ending poverty, protecting the environment and climate, and uniform development and employment.
“In addition, we have committed ourselves to providing better services for citizens through the reduction of administration and the implementation of energy efficiency projects. A month ago, together with UNDP, we started warming about 200 buildings in the area of the Tuzla Canton. This is the first initial step of our cooperation, and after the signed Agreement, we will find fields in which we will work together in order to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals,” said the Prime Minister of the Tuzla Canton, Irfan Halilagić.
The deputy representative of UNICEF in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Veronika Vashchenko, pointed out that partnerships with local self-governments are key for better social inclusion of the most vulnerable population groups, which is in accordance with the principle of the Sustainable Development Goals that no one should be left out.
She claims that the achievement of the goals will lead to the improvement of the socio-economic development of local communities, which is “the way to break the cycle of poverty and social exclusion”.
Also, the resident representative of UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Steliana Nedera, emphasizes that the localization of goals at the cantonal and local level will increase the capacity to implement specific projects, which will initiate changes in people’s lives with a special focus on the principle that no one should be left out in the process.
“Moreover, projects at the local level have a direct impact on the people living in those communities by improving their living conditions, and that is the most important thing,” concluded Lisa Curman, Deputy Head of the Department for Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This event was held as part of the program “Implementation of the Framework for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in BiH for sustainable and inclusive growth”, financed by Sweden, and implemented by UNDP in partnership with UNICEF and UN Women within the support of the United Nations to the BiH authorities in the implementation of the Framework for the realization of the SDGs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fena reports.
