Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Friday marked the first anniversary of the Parliamentary Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Secretariat established at the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Members of the National Assembly expressed have their appreciation to Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for making Pakistan a leader in the global community through this unique initiative, said a statement on Friday.

The secretariat enables the members to have access to Human Development Index (HDI) data; conduct evidence-based legislation and helps to provide effective oversight in parliament.

During its first year, the secretariat has organised the first conference on transition from MDGs to SDGs, national conference on malnutrition and overseen issues of malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, routine immunisation, water access and sanitation, quality education and urban planning and gender-related challenges through multiple parliamentary interventions.

“The secretariat has also assisted the members of the SDGs Task Force in identifying legislative gaps and bridging them through amendments and new legislation,” the statement said.

The secretariat is chaired by State Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb and comprises almost 120 parliamentarians across all provinces, including the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Gilgit-Baltistan ( GB), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and all political parties.

“The secretariat continues to evolve as a centre of excellence for credible, authentic and comparable data pivotal in tracking, overseeing and driving the pragmatic social development agenda to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable and impoverished,” it added.