The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ghana, Angela Lusigi has commended the Government of Ghana for the launch of Ghana’s SDGs Budget Report to enable the tracking of all investments towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She noted that, the report is a demonstration of Government of Ghana’s continued commitment to the achievement of the SDGs.

The 2020 Ghana’s SDG’s Budget Report was developed by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and Ghana Statistical Service as a continuation of efforts of Government to evaluate and define the funding gap for the SDGs. This is to establish a funding mechanism that enables the country to find and execute the Global Goals as expected.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Dr. Angela Lusigi underscored that UNDP has been assigned to play the role of an SDG integrator, globally and in Ghana. She expressed UNDP's continuous commitment to working with Government.

“The achievement of the 2030 Agenda is a collaborative effort, and the report gives us the opportunity to understand the integrated investments and collective actions required to close the SDG financing gap for people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships”, Dr. Lusigi emphasized.

On his part, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta  indicated that the SDGs Budget Report  provides data that will enable the Government and its partners to monitor the progress being made on the various goals against the investments made over the years to ascertain the efficient use of all financial resources.

He added that, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated socio-economic impact on all nations, the Sustainable Development Goals have suffered significant setbacks over the last seven months. He indicated that some of the Global Goals such as: Poverty Eradication (SDG1), Zero Hunger (SDG2), and Climate Action (SDG13) have retrogressed.

“The Government will continue to collaborate with development partners, private sector and all stakeholders to facilitate a sustainable recovery”, he noted.

Building up to the 2020 SDG’s Budget Report, the Government of Ghana developed its 2019 Budget report and the SDG’s Baseline Report to serve as a reference point for tracking investments towards the achievement of the SDGs and the corresponding Africa Union’s Agenda 2063.