Role of parliamentarians in delivery of post-2015 goals discussed ahead of IPU-132

The IPU-132, to be hosted for the first time by the National Assembly of Viet Nam, will take place in Ha Noi from 28 March to 1 April, with the main theme "The Sustainable Development Goals: Turning words into action".

Today's UNDP-supported workshop "From the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - the Role of Parliaments" provided relevant information for parliamentarians to participate in IPU-132. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong, who heads the IPU-132 Organizing Committee, attended the workshop.

"At this workshop, we need to discuss the National Assembly's role in proposing mechanisms and policies to form and implement SDGs," said Ms Tong Thi Phong in her opening speech. "We also need to discuss ways the National Assembly carries out its oversight function and make decisions on important national matters so Viet Nam can achieve the MDGs as well as contribute to the development, negotiation and implementation of the SDGs once adopted".

The workshop focused on Viet Nam's MDG outcomes; the country's perspectives on SDGs and the National Assembly's role in localizing and overseeing implementation of SDGs. It also featured a Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs' presentation of the MDGs Acceleration Plan for Ethnic Minority Areas and the Ministry of Health's Action Plan for Health.

UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam Pratibha Mehta praised Viet Nam's performance on many of the MDGs. However, she noted that further work was needed to achieve specific goals, such as child nutrition, HIV, a host of environmental targets and to address the under performance by particular communities - ethnic minority populations and remote areas severely lagging behind national averages.

"Questions of inclusion and sustainability lie at the heart of SDG agenda," said Dr Mehta. "These themes are particularly relevant to Viet Nam and other middle-income countries. It is often at this stage of national development when serious inequalities can emerge and unsustainable patterns of production and consumption can become entrenched. This is the developmental manifestation of the middle income trap."

She stressed that SDG implementation would require a far stronger governance approach – by the General Assembly at global level and by national parliaments within member states. She called on parliamentarians to become more engaged in strategic level policy-making and facilitate partnerships not just within and across the State, ministries and local administrations, but also encompassing civil society and the private sector.

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