The Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP and UN-Women, is hosting a two-day national workshop on “Securing Funding for the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Republic of Tajikistan” at the National Library in Dushanbe on October 22-23, 2021.
The seminar is attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Science, the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management and other civil servants of the republican and regional levels. In addition, development partners, civil society organizations, and representatives of state preschool and secondary educational institutions are expected to participate.
The seminar is the first in a series of events under the joint program "Financing the SDGs in Tajikistan", which is co-financed by partner organizations of the United Nations and the Joint Fund for SDGs of the United Nations. The aim of the workshop is to institutionalize a reliable, inclusive and sustainable policy dialogue on financing the SDGs in relation to achieving national policy priorities in the Republic of Tajikistan. The joint program is focusing on the education sector as a pilot project that can demonstrate how new ways to promote and fund the SDGs can be explored and replicated in other sectors. The workshop also provides an opportunity for the program to integrate technical inputs and outputs with national dialogue on financing medium and long term strategic policy priorities in Tajikistan.
“Financing the education sector is more important than ever. The negative impact of COVID-19 is felt by all of us at all levels. Therefore, we highly welcome an inclusive dialogue with various stakeholders such as the private sector, civil society and development partners to explore innovative approaches to budgeting and financing of the education sector and the achievement of the SDGs "- emphasized the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tajikistan Gulchekhra Ganizoda.
The workshop will also provide an opportunity for the program team to present initial results such as an assessment of the fiscal space, a comprehensive overview of the funding constraints and opportunities in the education sector, and a proposed mechanism (tool) for tracking and reporting on public spending from the budget in line with national goals and SDG indicators.
"We are committed to implementing national strategies to achieve the SDGs in better and more effective ways. We would like to thank our development partners for their substantial support and all efforts to achieve our goals at the national level," said Deputy Minister of Economic Development Ashurboy Solekhzoda.
These results, as well as the expected discussion of options for increasing the fiscal space, will be used to develop and prepare a national roadmap for financing the SDGs, which will subsequently be approved by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, thereby providing the basis for the necessary financing of the SDGs for the implementation of the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period up to 2030 year and other sectoral strategies and programs.
"The results of the workshop will be used to complete the development of the National SDG Financing Roadmap, which, we hope, will be approved by the Government of Tajikistan, and the roadmap will be in line with national development priorities and sectoral strategies." - emphasized UN Women Country Program Manager Aziza Khamidova.
