Luanda - The United Nations (UN) expressed its willingness to support Angola to achieve the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to fight hunger, poverty and inequality and promote a dignified life for all citizens.
The information was released this Wednesday, in Luanda, by the resident coordinator of the United Nations in Angola, Zahira Virani, after an audience with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos.
In 2015, the UN defined the 2030 Agenda, consisting of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing several dimensions of sustainable development in the socioeconomic and environmental aspects.
It also includes 169 concrete goals, the ultimate goal of which is to eradicate poverty and promote a dignified life for all citizens.
Zahira Virani said she talked with his interlocutor how the UN system and its agencies can support Parliament and the Angolan Government to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
She said there are now 10 years until the 2030 Agenda and there is a need to redouble efforts to reach the goals.
Asked to comment whether the Covid-19 pandemic would not change the 2030 Agenda, Zahira Virani said it was necessary to redouble efforts to achieve these goals, because health for the people and opportunities cannot be postponed.
Covid-19, she said, has come to uncover flaws in the health care system, but at the same time, it is serving as an opportunity to learn and improve access to health care, education, among others.
Zahira Virani said that WHO, one of the UN agencies, works with the Angolan Ministry of Health not only to respond on Covid-19, but also to strengthen the system so that all people have access to health.
She considers it essential to create more jobs for the reduction of the poverty rate, as well as a stronger social protection system for the most vulnerable.
Supporting the fight against corruption
Zahira Virani informed that the United Nations is working with the Angolan Government to define the role of this international Organization in the fight against corruption in Angola.
She indicated that the UN system is conducting research that will serve as a platform to develop, with the Angolan Government, its anti-corruption programme.
The Canadian, Zahira Virani who arrived at the UN through a programme called "Lead", believes that the country, with combined efforts, should reach the goals of the SDGs.
She worked in Panama, Geneva (Switzerland), Afghanistan, Bosnia Hezergovina and São Tomé, as coordinator of the United Nations.
The fight against corruption has been a banner of President João Lourenço, since he took office on 26 September 2017.
The Angolan Executive undertook to present at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Forum, in New York, on 21 July 2021, the report “on the state of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Angola”.
