NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING COMMISSION

13 Switchback Road Telephone: (233 030) 277 30 11-3

P. O. Box CT-633 Email: info@ndpc.gov.gh
Accra - Ghana www.ndpc.gov.gh

Republic of Ghana

Press Release
For Immediate Release 31 August 2017

Ghana inaugurates Technical Committee for the implementation of SDGs and

Agenda 2063
The Minister for Planning, Professor George Gyan-Baffour, inaugurated the Technical Committee for the
implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063 in Ghana on 22 August 2017.
The technical committee is one of the institutional set-ups to facilitate the localisation and implementation of
the SDGs and Agenda 2063 in Ghana.

The Minister said the first step in the localisation process was the inauguration of the SDGs Implementation
Coordination Committee (SDGs-ICC) in 2016. This Committee has been responsible for preparing the roadmap
for localising the SDGs, he said, adding that the President is soon to inaugurate the High Level Inter-Ministerial
Committee to complete the process.

Prof. Gyan-Baffour said Ghanas significant achievements regarding the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and active involvement in the preparation and adoption of the SDGs had earned Ghana significant
recognition in the comity of nations. This acknowldgement, he said, is borne out by the nomination of Ghanas
President as co-chair of the SDGs Eminent Advocates with the Prime Minister of Norway.

Indeed in most of the SDGs events and discussions organised especially at the UN, Ghana is usually selected
to either represent Africa or share perspectives on those critical matters relating to SDGs implementation. In
the UN High-Level Political meeting held in July 2017 in New York, key issues of SDGs implementation presented
by Ghana served as the major discussion point and were eventually adopted for action, he said.

According to the Minister, this places a lot of responsibility on Ghana to ensure that it fully integrates the SDGs
in the national development agenda and showcases best practices for adoption by others. Directly addressing
Committee members, he said many countries will be looking to see how Ghana will implement the SDGs, how
the SDGs are translated into the national plan and how all sectors have assumed their role in SDGs
implementation. We must not slacken our pace of development.

Dr. Felix Addo-Yobo, a Deputy Director at the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) outlined the
role of the Technical Committee, and said the overall objective of its work is to facilitate implementation,
monitoring and reporting of the SDGs, Agenda 2063 and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP 21). The
Committee is to ensure the alignment, adaptation and adoption of all relevant international committments and
protocols in the annual plans and monitoring frameworks of Ghanas Ministries, Departments and Agencies
(MDAs). The Committee will also provide technical support and advice to the SDGs-ICC on implementation
challenges and opportunities; ensure accurate and timely updates for the SDGs monitoring framework; provide
technical support and training to districts, CSOs, private sector organisations and other interested parties; and
support advocacy, awareness creation and public education on SDGs, Agenda 2063 and other international
protocols.

Dr. Addo-Yobo said the Technical Committee will be expected to produce annual reports on its activities, and
biennial progress reports on the implementation of SDGs, Agenda 2063 and other international protocols. It
will also report on institutional and policy reforms for improving the quality of statistics for national reporting,
and plan for establishing a statistics and indicators database for monitoring of the national development plan.

Membership of the Technical Committee comprises representative of MDAs and civil society and private sector
organisations. It reports to the SDGs Implementation Coordination Committee, and has a secretariat at the
National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

It will be recalled that in early 2015, African leaders adopted the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan (FTYIP) of
the Agenda 2063 framework for the socio-economic transformation of Africa. In September of the same year,
the UN General Assembly adopted the Post-2015 global development framework, Transforming Our World:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2016-2030) together with the SDGs as the successor to the
MDGs. World leaders followed this up with the Paris Agreement on Climate change, in December 2015, which
aims to limit the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels the
level beyond which scientists say the world will see the worst extremes of global warming.

The overarching aim of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs is to eliminate poverty in all its forms and stimulate actions
in areas of critical importance to humanity and the planet. The FTYIP of Agenda 2063 comprises 20 goals and
172 targets, while the SDGs comprise 17 goals with 169 targets.

Signed
Rosemary Danquah-Sampong
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER