Prof George Gyan-Baffour, the Chairman, National Development Planning-Commission (NDPC), has called for collective efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).
“We must leverage the knowledge and expertise of all stakeholders, including the invaluable contributions of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which acts as a global knowledge bank, allowing Ghana to benefit from the experiences and triumphs of others who have successfully navigated similar challenges,” he stated.
Prof Gyan-Baffour was delivering an address at the maiden International Symposium organised by the University of Education Winneba (UEW), on the topic: ‘Economic Policies and Strategies for Addressing the Economic Aspect of Sustainable Development.’
It was on the theme: “Reflections on Ghana’s SDG Agenda: Consolidating Performance and Enhancing Sustainability,” attended by deans, lecturers, students and representatives of civil society organisations.
He said consolidating such gains would involve assessing the internal inconsistencies and adhocracies in the country’s economic strategies and policies to ensure sustainability.
To ensure consistency and focused strategic direction, the NDPC has launched a long-term National Development Perspective Framework-Vision 2057 to guide the country’s development, with the overall goal being to build a prosperous, inclusive and resilient economy, he said.
“Ghana’s economic instability in the face of external shocks over the years indicates that there is the need to interrogate economic policies and strategies we have been pursuing in the past and also to look at broad factors including the implementation arrangements of these interventions by previous and current governments,”
He touched on the need to consolidate the little economic gains realised and initiate more forward-looking economic policies and strategies to strengthen its economic growth to achieve sustainable development.
Prof Gyan-Baffour explained that consolidating such gains would involve assessing the internal inconsistencies and adhocracies in the country’s economic strategies and policies to ensure sustainability.
Globally there were significant efforts to achieve sustainable development and international commitments such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the New Urban Agenda and AU Agenda 2063, among others provided indicators to measure efforts towards achieving sustainable development.
“Indeed, the National Development Planning Commission over the years has assured that these commitments are aligned to Ghana’s development processes and has experienced some improvement in some aspects of our economic development, however whenever there are shocks as results of global economic uncertainties, they expose cracks in our economic policies and stratagems,” he indicated.
Prof Gyan-Baffour indicated that building a more sustainable and prosperous Ghana required a shared responsibility, a commitment to collaborative action and spirit of inclusivity of which the Government, through the NDPC and other institutions, was trying to achieve.
“Let us seize this opportunity to identify innovative solutions, strengthen our national SDG agenda and collectively to build a future that is not only sustainable and prosperous, but also equitable, ensuring no one is left behind on this journey towards a better tomorrow,” he added.
GNA
