National Planning Commission (NPC) vice-chairman Min Bahadur Shrestha has delivered Nepal’s national statement at the plenary meeting of the 2017 High-Level Political Forum being held at the United Nations Headquarters from 10 to 19 July 2017. He is the head of Nepali delegation.

In his statement on Wednesday, Shrestha highlighted the need to focus on actions that bring qualitative differences in the lives of people as we embark on turning the transformative SDGs into reality.

While saying that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development enjoys strong underpinnings of the country’s Constitution itself, Vice-Chairman Shrestha underlined Nepal’s policy initiatives for mainstreaming and localizing SDGs into its national plans and programmes immediately after the adoption of the Agenda, Nepal's Permanent Mission to the United Nations stated in a press release.

Despite Nepal’s constraints relating to capacity, institutions and resources as well as its structural challenges and vulnerabilities to climate change and natural disasters, he highlighted how Nepal was mustering all the strength and relentless efforts in hope of achieving the SDGs. He added that the efforts would not be enough and current level of global efforts and partnerships are inadequate.

In the evening yesterday, the Minister participated in a side event entitled “Fast Tracking Poverty Eradication and SDGs through the Data Revolution” co-hosted by Nepal, Bangladesh (LDC Chair), UNDP and UN Secretariat, among others. Speaking in the programme, Dr. Shrestha highlighted the importance of data as well as challenges facing LDCs in this regard.

Vice Chairman Shrestha also attended the Ministerial Breakfast on Sustainable Finance meeting organised Tuesday morning by the President of the General Assembly.

Also on Tuesday, Bishnu Prasad Lamsal, Member-Secretary of the National Planning Commission, participated as a panelist in a side event entitled “Leave No One Behind: Ensuring Inclusive SDG Progress”. The event, which was organized by the UK Mission, UNDP and other organisations, highlighted, among others, the importance of sharing the benefits of development to everyone on an equitable basis.