10 June 2021 | Balochistan – UCLG ASPAC programme for localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan, LEAD for SDGs, organised the first ever meeting at Local Council Association of Balochistan (LCAB) office to map the contributions of the private sector and civil society towards the localisation of the SDGs. Engaging representatives from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), bar council, UNDP, media and other relevant government departments, the consultation aimed at establishing public private partnership through the corporate social responsibility programme to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
UNDP representatives emphasised the need for having an established mechanism for SDGs data reporting in Balochistan province. They expressed their support to LEAD for SDGs team in collecting province-wide data. They ensured that they will work in close collaboration with the team and will hold a joint orientation session on the status of SDGs data. Moreover, UNDP also agreed to orient LCAB and alliance members on SDGs and data collection mechanism.
All the alliance meeting members agreed to work in coordination with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Balochistan which is the government’s main repository of statistical data/information on citizens’ demography, household income/expenditure, socio-economic status of household, population and housing census, agriculture and livestock census and data related to other private and public sectors. This department is responsible for collection, compilation, and dissemination of reliable and timely statistical data. It was decided that the alliance members will also help PBS in gathering data against each SDG target from all the sectors including public, private, and CSOs.
As a way forward, all the alliance members agreed to work with the Provincial Statistical Bureau Balochistan aimed at building their capacity on collecting data against each SDG targets. This would also help them in gathering SDGs related data from all the sectors including public, private and CSOs.
UCLG ASPAC’s LEAD for SDGs Programme mainly supports Local Council Association (LCA) Sindh (LCAS), Local Council Association Balochistan (LCAB), and Association for Development of Local Governance (ADLG) in the localisation of SDGs. The baseline study undertaken for LEAD programme identified coordination gap between different tiers of government and between various public, private and civil society organisations. To bridge this coordination gap and develop institutional linkages, the LEAD Programme has established provincial alliances comprising of public, private and civil society organisations, line ministries and departments, academia, media and donor-funded projects. These networks are aimed at raising awareness about SDGs, advocate and develop action plans for the judicious reforms in the current legal and policy frameworks, develop public-private partnership, and monitor and report on the localisation and implementation of SDGs at the provincial and local levels in a coordinated and cooperative manner. These networks work under the guidance and support of the provincial local councils associations and have established core committees to implement their annual action plans developed by the alliances. These alliances are functional in both the provincial capitals i.e. Quetta in Balochistan Province and Karachi in Sindh province. In this regard, the technical and financial support is provided by the LEAD Programme.
