Article, 22.01.2016
Ambassador Michael Gerber is the special representative of the Federal Council for global
sustainable development and represented Switzerland during the
intergovernmental negotiations on the 2030 Agenda at the UN. In this interview
he explains what the next steps are in terms of implementation and what role
the SDC has to play in this.
In this interview
Michael Gerber explains how the implementation of the 2030 Agenda will be set
out in detail over the next few months. © Keystone
Mr Gerber, the
focus of this year's Swiss development cooperation annual conference in Zurich
was the 2030 Agenda. In December 2015 the Federal Council requested that the
SDC coordinate the next steps in implementing the agenda in Switzerland
together with the Federal Office for Spatial Development. What will these steps
be?
In the next few months an analysis will be carried out
by an interdepartmental working group made up of all the federal offices
involved which is coordinated by the SDC and the Federal Office for Spatial
Development. The aim of this review is to determine where Switzerland needs to
take action and to formulate the measures for this in order to implement the
2030 Agenda. It will also establish how this will be coordinated, who will be
responsible for what, and which instruments will be used.
It is already clear that the Dispatch on International
Cooperation 2017-2020 and the Federal Office for Spatial Development's
Sustainable Development Strategy 2016–2019 determine the general course of
action for Switzerland's implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
What role will
the SDC have in this?
When it comes to implementation within Switzerland,
the SDC's role will be to coordinate how these global objectives can be
translated at national level.
In the international context, the main strategic
instrument guiding Switzerland's efforts in this field is the international
cooperation dispatch for 2017-2020 mentioned earlier. Naturally the SDC will
have a key role to play here.
Harmonisation between the global and domestic context
is crucial in order to ensure that Switzerland's efforts are consistent. All of
Switzerland's contributions – both national and international – will be put
together in the report for the UN.
How will the
individual objectives of the 2030 Agenda impact concretely on the SDC's work
over the next few years? Can you give us an example?
First I'd like to make it clear that the 17 goals and
168 targets set out in the agenda go far beyond the limitations of
international development cooperation. International development cooperation
can also only cover a small percentage of the funds that are needed.
Nevertheless the new goals provide strategic guidance
for the SDC's work. The 2030 Agenda includes many areas and measures that are
important for the SDC.
For example the goals on poverty, health, food
security, education, gender equality, water, climate, economic development,
employment, peace and the rule of law are all important thematic areas for the
SDC. There are also concrete targets on migration and disaster risk reduction,
two additional areas of activity anchored in the SDGs – in part by Swiss
efforts – where the SDC has a leading role to play internationally.
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Source: http://sci.fo/192
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