The Sustainable Development Council (SDC) today convened a National Forum to discuss Sri Lanka’s current progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Sustainable Development Council (SDC)  convened a National Forum to discuss Sri Lanka’s current progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Presenting the updated Sri Lanka SDG Dashboard featuring data from 2023-2024, the Director General of SDC, Chamindry Saparamadu, highlighted that through an analysis of 204 indicators, it becomes evident that Sri Lanka has made progress on SDG 03 on Good Health and Well-being, on SDG 07 on Affordable and Clean Energy, on SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and SDG 17 on Partnerships for the Goals in 2024 as compared to 2023. However, the progress on SDG 04 on Quality Education, SDG 06 on Clean Water and Sanitation have experienced some setbacks compared to 2023, while Sri Lanka has also faced additional challenges and regressive trends relating to SDG 14 on Life Below Water as compared to 2023.

The DG-SDC further highlighted that at the current pace, if continued, Sri Lanka would be able to achieve 24 SDG targets by 2030, and efforts are needed to accelerate pace of progress on 71 others to achieve them by 2030. At the current pace, Sri Lanka will not be able to achieve 31 SDG targets by 2030.

Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr. Anura Disssanayake, and Additional Secretary to the President, Ms. Chandima Wickramasinghe, both spoke at the Forum and emphasized the need to look at innovative and integrated solutions to tackle the inter-connected challenges relating to the economy, society and the environment in order to advance the implementation of the SDGs.

The Forum featured a session where a select group of key policy makers, SDG thought leaders, practitioners and activists briefly shared insights on SDG accelerator pathways in Sri Lanka. The Forum was attended by secretaries to ministries, heads of key government institutions, international development partners, selected private sector representatives, civil society members, and academia.