Government of GB in collaboration with UNDP has established an SDG Support Unit at the Planning and Development Department GB. The unit will broadly provide a platform for effective coordination for the implementation of SDGs in GB. The Unit is working closely with the line departments, civil society organizations, academia and other stakeholders in GB to achieve the agenda 2030. In liaison with UNDP and Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms (MoPDR), the Unit will set a baseline for SDG Indicators and will develop an M&E framework for tracking progress on SDG Indicators.
Since its establishment in November 2018, SDG Support Unit GB has conducted number of activities for mainstreaming SDGs in the policy framework in GB. Some of the major activities conducted by the SDG Support Unit GB are listed below:
Voluntary National Review Report on SDGs in GB
The first Voluntary Review Report on SDGs in GB was prepared by the SDG Support Unit in January 2019. For the preparation of VNR GB report, the SDG Unit organized a mega consultative workshop where all stakeholders including line departments, NGOs, civil society organizations, private sector, academia and media participated. The main purpose of this consultation was to seek input on GB VNR from the relevant stakeholders and to give an overall orientation and awareness on SDGs. The legal and regulatory regime for implementation on SDGs in Gilgit-Baltistan was reviewed in the consultation. It also focused on the existing institutional arrangements at departmental/organization level to localize SDGs. Furthermore, key challenges, opportunities, successes stories and lessons learnt were highlighted in the consultation session. The mechanism for monitoring, evaluation and reporting on SDGs was also discussed.
This was followed my multiple meetings with the line departments to receive their input for developing the progress report on SDGs in GB. The report was shared with the federal SDG Unit and the findings of the report were also incorporated in the National Review Report prepared by the Planning Commission of Pakistan. The report was then presented at the UN High Level Political Forum in New York in July 2019.
Mapping of ADP Schemes with SDG targets in GB
The Unit conducted a detailed mapping of development projects under ADP 2018-19 and ADP 2019-20 with SDGs at the target level. The purpose of budget alignment was to highlight the SDGs localization in budgetary frameworks and to shed light on low funded SDGs which needs consideration while preparing ADPs in future. The evidence gathered through this mapping exercise can also be used for management purposes to reorient budget choices and identify priority areas for funding. The overall aim has been to assist line department and policy makers to review the current trends in budgetary allocations and its alignment with SDG targets. You can find the detailed report in the downloads section.
Advocacy and Awareness Sessions
As the line departments are the primary stakeholders responsible for the implementation of SDGs in GB, their awareness and capacity building on SDGs is fundamental. SDG Support Unit conducted several sessions with the line departments where a general overview of SDGs was presented followed by sharing the baseline on SDG indicators in GB. The challenges and way forward were also deliberated in detail.
SDG Implementation Framework
In the context of limited financial resources available for the implementation of SDGs in GB, it is essential for the government to prioritize SDGs keeping in context the local dynamics of GB. Currently, the SDG Support Unit is in process of developing the SDG framework which will entail the prioritization of SDGs. The framework will be developed in close consultation with all the stakeholders in GB. The established baseline will provide the required evidence to inform the prioritization of SDG targets in GB.
Baseline Setting on SDGs in GB
Baseline data is completely available on 28% (43 out of 157) of the GB relevant SDG indicators that includes data from any available source whereas data on 53% of the SDG indicators is not currently available. In four percent of the SDG indicators where data was not available, good proxies were used to give an approximate estimate on the indicator. On approximately 13 percent of the indicators, data was partially available.
Among the HH survey data, MICS and PDHS are the major sources of data for the baseline setting. These two sources combined provided complete data on 28 and partial data on 3 SDG indicators. Proxies were also used from these two sources to give an approximate estimate on 4 SDG indicators. As discussed above, data from PBS can be used to estimate 35 SDG additional indicators.
Institutional data was also gathered from couple of line departments through a close coordination. The SDG Support Unit is following up with the remaining departments to acquire available data from the departments.
Monitoring and Reporting on SDGs in GB
Monitoring and progress tracking on SDGs is a challenging task in GB. The process requires data from both the household surveys as well as administrative data. The data from both these streams is either missing or its not available in a central repository.
GB lacks a provincial Bureau of Statistics or any other institution with the sole responsibility of managing and providing statistics to facilitate the process of evidence-based monitoring. Hence there is no single authority responsible for a centralized data management in GB. Absence of a central body for the management of the data sets being collected leads to multiplications in the data being collected through various household surveys. There is a significant overlap in the data being collected under various surveys administered by a number of organizations. To ensure efficient use of the scarce resources, these overlaps needs to be removed and which is possible if these surveys are being coordinated and managed by a single entity at the provincial level.
The institutional data is either not available or is available in rough form and efforts are required to make it available for monitoring purpose. Some of the line departments do have institutional data which still needs consolidation in a central repository. The reliability of the institutional data that the lines departments provide is also a challenging issue. Cross validation is usually required before using it for policy purposes.
Absence of a Provincial Bureau of Statistics exacerbates the challenges of data gathering and data management. Therefore, a statistical body needs to be established which can centrally manage the secondary data being received from the line departments after performing cross validations to ensure the quality of data being stored. A well-managed data system is essential for evidence-based policy making in GB. To address these challenges, Government of GB is planning to establish a Statistical Unit inside P&DD GB.