The first meeting of regional groups to achieve the SDGs took place in Brest

On November 28 in Brest, representatives of the Regional Working Groups for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals gathered to exchange experience and coordinate work.

At the first meeting, Brest, one of the leading regions in working on the SDGs, presented its experience in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Brest participates in the UNICEF “Child Friendly City” program, and until 2050, the project of an environmentally attractive city “Simbiosity” is being implemented here. This is a pilot project for Belarus, providing for the sustainable development of the city in 6 aspects: transport, ecology, architecture, water supply and sanitation, landscaping. The first changes related to water purification and disposal are planned to be introduced in 2019 – by the city’s millennium.

The implementation of the project not only leads to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals at once, but is also based on an important element of sustainable development – localization of the SDGs. The Brest project, based on an integrated approach, addresses simultaneously the issues of clean water and sanitation (Goal No. 6), affordable and clean energy (Goal No. 7), sustainable cities (Goal No. 11) and climate change (Goal No. 13).

Active work on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is also organized in the Mogilev region and the city of Minsk.

The meeting in Brest marks the transition from the national level of building institutions to achieve the SDGs to the regional one, which was discussed at the first meeting of the National Coordinator for the Achievement of the SDGs, Marianna Shchetkina, with the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus, Joanna Kazana-Wisniewiecki.

The implementation of the SDGs at the local level (localization) is an important condition for achieving the Global Goals, allowing us to solve the most pressing issues in each region, taking into account their specifics and interests.