The Department of the Interior and Local Government XII has shown its support to the province of Sultan Kudarat as the latter signed a Pledge of Commitment to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) last November 6-7, 2019 at the SP Hall, Sultan Kudarat Capitol.

Local officials and employees from the said province as well as representatives from national lined agencies and civil society organizations joined the said activity.

 “For your information, Sultan Kudarat has already taken the lead in implementing these SDGs and other global agendas even before the national government had done so. Localization of these objectives is not new to us,” said Vice Governor Ramon Abalos during his speech on behalf of Governor Suharto Mangudadatu.

DILG – Sultan Kudarat Local Government Operations Officer V Rommelyn Damasco welcomed the participants to the two-day activity where she also expressed the agency’s support to the provincial government’s initiative to localize the SDGs to the municipalities and help in its achievement through the Roads2SDGs.

Roads2SDGs or “Paving the Road to SDGs through Good Governance” is a project in partnership with the DILG and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that aims to improve the provincial roads and connectivity in the country while addressing the various goals of the SDGs to help end poverty and hunger by 2030.

Meanwhile, UNDP Resident Representative Enrico Gaveglia also lauded the provincial government and other stakeholders in their strong commitment to help achieve the SDG goals.

“SDG cannot be achieved alone, we know that…we need the partnership of government, private sector, CSO and citizens in all countries, whether it’s a poor situation or in a middle income status, and to look into the vulnerability aspect of the society in such a way that nobody’s left behind in the journey towards development,” said Gaveglia during his speech.

Gaveglia further challenged the provincial government and other stakeholders to ensure that the SDG localization and plan “does not remain an abstract concept…but has to be felt in the homes and in the communities.”

 “If you are not able to translate the SDG goals into tangible credits for the community you’re working on, then you may have failed,” he said.

As a response to this challenge, Vice Governor Ramon Abalos expressed the provincial government’s full commitment to “make the aspirations of the SDGs become real to our communities, households, and individuals, particularly those who are falling behind.”

 “The achievement of the SDGs in the province will depend on us, local leaders… there are still work to be done to enhance the active involvement of our local leaders and stakeholders through integrated governance.  Involving all sectors in our community, we’ll be able to achieve our joint ambitions,” said Vice Governor Abalos.

As support to the province, DILG XII also facilitated an orientation-workshop on SDGs localization to guide local officials, employees, and NGAs of their functions and responsibilities in the SDG roll-out in the municipalities.

Furthermore, the orientation-workshop assisted them in identifying their information and data gaps to successfully push through with the SDGs localization.