Update: 1:56PM THE interwoven nature of the Sustainable Development Goals should compel governments to work in partnership with civil society organisations, says Pacific Islands Association of NGOs executive director Emele Duituturaga.

Duituturaga made the comments while presenting on the SDGs to the Development
Network (DevNet) Conference held in Wellington, New Zealand earlier this week.

She said because the SDGs were ambitious, universal, transformative and
interconnected, “governments must seek civil society and community
collaborations for its mainstreaming, implementation and achievements at
regional and national levels”.

“It is also for these reasons that CSOs and citizens must not shy away from
holding their governments accountable,” Ms Duituturaga said.

“When CSOs do these, they are not necessarily opposing governments, they are
ensuring that governments and society improve their approaches to tackling each
of the 17 goals.

“The goals are ultimately designed for all countries, for all people and the
sustainability of the planet. It is our duty as civil society to ensure that
the objective of leaving no one behind is really achieved and that can only be
done if we are part and parcel of national and regional efforts on SDGs.”

Ms Duituturaga said PIANGO was now actively seeking out partnerships at
regional and national levels to ensure the achievement of SDGs in the region.

“We have been working closely with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and
other Pacific governments on the Pacific SDG Roadmap which is to be endorsed by
the PIF leaders next year.”