The PNG Government has signed with the United Nations Develop Programme (UNDO) the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2018 – 2022.
The UNDAF outlines the partnership between PNG and the UN in delivering the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, consistent with existing national development priorities.
The agreement was signed today by Minister for National Planning and
Monitoring and Acting Minister for Public Investment and State Enterprise, Charles Abel, and UNDP Resident Coordinator Roy Trivedy.
Minister Abel expressed gratitude on behalf of the government for the work of the UN and said there is continuous learning from the experiences learnt thus far.
He said the Ministry and the Department of Planning are working hard to structure PNG’s development priorities so that they are holistic.
“As we now move into the2030 Agenda and Sustainable (Development) Goals, Papua New Guinea has developed its very own sustainable responsible development strategy that I’ve talked extensively about,” said the Minister.
“We’ve also made quite a few changes to the planning framework to try and align the political process to the development process and to incorporate into our own local plans the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
Trivedy said the development framework was a collective effort on the part of all the United Nations team.
Trivedy was grateful for the support shown by Minister Abel and the Government in ensuring the framework became a reality.
He said they now had to work on delivering the development agendas set out under the SDGs.
“Signing the document is one thing, of course implementation is the bigger challenge. And that is what we need to move towards after today,” he said.