SDG Agenda Is Long Overdue! Someone Has Been Sleeping On It!

Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak 
Opinion - Bacalah Malaysia 
August 14, 2024 

The recent call by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) that “the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be integrated into the school curriculum to connect students with its concepts from a young age,” is at least two decades late. 

She rightly said “that students should learn about the United Nations (UN) SDGs to ensure its future sustainability” which was initially mooted in 2005 under the UN Decades of Education for Sustainable Development, and ended in 2014 as part the Millennium Development Goals.

Later, it was extended as SDGs until 2030. Malaysia is one of the United Nations member states which has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. And actively so!

Thus, the claimed that she reportedly made: “The discussions (on SDGs) are currently small-scale, but perhaps we can have further discussions with the ministry, and potentially even the Minister” is distinctively out of place. 

"It is well documented that the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) is the focal point for Sustainable Development (SD) and acts as a coordinating interministerial agency on the initiatives related to SD. It includes SDGs as an outcomes of the Rio+20, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012. 

The SDGs is well  accepted as a global agenda for SD and known as 2030 Agenda, in 2015. 

In the process, it embraces for  implementation the 17 SDGs in a systematic and measurable manner, where Malaysia has put in place an enabling environment through the various initiatives, namely; 

“Established a multi-stakeholder, participatory governance structure helmed by the National SDG Council chaired by the Prime Minister; held several national SDG symposiums and focus group sessions to promote awareness and participation of stakeholders; conducted studies on data readiness and gap analysis; undertaken a mapping exercise involving non government and civil society organisations and the private sector to align SDGs with 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) initiatives; formulated a National SDG Roadmap to guide implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs; and implementing SDG initiative under the framework of the 11MP. 

In implementing the 2030 Agenda under the framework of 11MP, Malaysia undertake the following:

• localising SDGs at sub-national levels by replicating the national multi-stakeholder governance structure at state levels;
• mobilising resources and funding through partnerships with stakeholders including crowd sourcing, social entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility programmes besides public sector funding under 11MP;
• and strengthening data readiness and filling data gaps to develop a comprehensive dataset for SDG implementation.

At the apex of the SDG governance structure is the National SDG Council, chaired by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

This Council plans and monitors the SDG implementation is supported by a National Steering Committee (NSC), chaired by the Director General of the EPU. The National SDG Council periodically reports to the UN via the High-level Political Forum.

All these are by no means “small-scale” as alleged! In fact, the National SDG Roadmap by the Ministry of Economic Affairs is a vital piece in demonstrating how that commitment is being translated into tangible actions.  

It is also an assessment of the progress, gaps and challenges thus far, which are pivotal in shaping the 12th Malaysia Plan for the period 2021-2026, and beyond. Additionally, in January 2022, the Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Trust Fund (MySDG Fund) was launched to facilitate the nation’s SD agenda. 

Also announced was the establishment of the Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Foundation (MySDG Foundation), to be administered by the MySDG Fund. 

Notably, their establishment represents a collaboration between the Government of Malaysia and the UN in the country.

Ironically, the Minister despite being under the wings of the Prime Minister’s Department goofed by belittling the nation in the eyes of the world yet again.

Prior to this,  she unilaterally reversed the decision not to delisting liquid and gel forms of vape from the Poisons List.

The items are freely and openly sold to those under the age of 18 years. The dubious move has made Malaysia a laughing stock since April 1, 2023, in contradiction to the advice of the World Health Organisation.

More shamefully, it goes against the very SDGs which she is advocating! Especially SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being.

More specifically, subgoal 3.5, related to the strengthening of the prevention and treatment of substance abuse including vape as well as narcotic drug and tobacco abuse. She was then a first-term Minister of Health!

Meaning to say we definitely deserved someone better! – BACALAHMALAYSIA.MY

• The writer is a member of the MySDG Foundation and the National SDG Roadmap