(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) AMMAN, May 29 (KUNA) -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in cooperation with the members of Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) and the Arab League organized the 2016 Arab Forum for Sustainable Development in Amman Sunday.
Speaking at the opening session, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf stated that the sustainable development goals (SDG) plan for 2030 comprises four politically and technically integrated and interdependent elements.
The plan includes a political declaration of principles, a clear framework for the 17 goals, execution mechanism and follow up and review tools and mechanisms, she elaborated.
She emphasized that the SDG aims to create a better world for all people.
Khalaf stated that achieving sustainability of development requires promotion of peaceful political transition, addressing causes of social, national, and institutional divisions, filling knowledge gaps and developing media and cultural systems.
For her part, Assistant Arab League Secretary General Dr. Haifa Abughazala expressed Arab League's full support to Arab efforts to put in place the SDG plan.
She, however, called for more consultations over the SDG execution mechanisms to take into account the huge challenges facing the Arab region due to political turbulences and social and humanitarian consequences of regional unrest.
Meanwhile, Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Al-Fakhoury suggested that materializing the SDG requires drawing a roadmap for the executive framework.
This roadmap should be based on the Arab and national sustainable development strategies, he stressed.
He added that effective cooperation among governments, private sector, and civil society organizations is crucial for success of the plan.
He called for regional collaboration and cooperation's to meet development challenges and achieve its goals.
The two-day event brings together governments from the Arab region, UN and regional organizations, Major Groups and other stakeholders to discuss Arab perspectives on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to enhance political commitments to begin work on the 2030 Agenda in the region.
Participants discuss and agree on future operational modalities of the AFSD as the primary regional platform for cohesive, coordinated implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the region.
The meeting is expected to result in a set of findings and recommendations that will be submitted to and presented at the 2016 session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the 29th UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Ministerial Session, slated next July. (end) mjb.asa.ibi