Ghana will require about $522.3 billion to finance the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
To this end, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called on the private sector and donors to support the implementation of the SDGs.
He made the call in Accra yesterday during the launch of the Ghana 2022 SDGs Budget and Expenditure Report.
The Budget Report provides a comprehensive overview of progress, challenges, and the steps being taken to address them and areas which need re-prioritisation in terms of attention and budgetary allocation.
Mr Ofori-Atta who stated this in a speech read on his behalf by Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, said Ghana had seven years to reach the deadline of the SDGs and government alone could not bear the cost of funding the SDGs.
“Achieving the 17 targets of the SDGs which include education, health, eradicating poverty, promoting gender parity by 20230 will be a collective responsibility,” Mr Ofori-Atta, stated.
Mr Ofori-Atta said SDGs served as a roadmap for the country’s journey towards sustainable development, outlining the achievements, setbacks, and the actions required to accelerate progress, adding that government had aligned its policies and budgetary allocations with the SDGs.
He said the 2022 SDGs Budget Report showed that government increased allocations for industry and agriculture, GH¢216, 296,000.00 and GH¢514, 000,000.00 respectively.
The Finance Minister also indicated that there was also an increase in allocation for the key government flagship programmes GH¢5, 053,726,913.20 such as Planting for Food and Jobs as compared to the 2021 allocation of GH¢2, 853,052,197.06.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the government was spending more on health, gender, education in efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the global economic situation on the local economy.
“Our commitment to the SDGs remains resolute, and the 2022 Budget and Expenditure Report demonstrates the measures we are taking to counter the effects of the global crisis and accelerate our progress,” he stated.
The Country Representative of UNICEF, Osama Makkawi, said the launch of the report was in “the right direction.”
He said the development of the report was important as it highlights the goals government was doing well and the one which needed attention.
Mr Makkawi commended the government for the efforts being made to achieve the targets in the SDGs.
The Country Representative of UNICEF pledged his outfit’s commitment to support Ghana in the implementation of the SDGs as well as develop annual reports for the programme.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, Eva Esselba Mends, said the 2022 SDG Report was the fourth to be conducted by Ghana and said the country was also among the few countries which had developed SDG Report.
She said the report indicated that there was the need for the government to increase funding in promoting food security, health, education and gender parity.
The Chief Director said government would leverage private sector funds, donor support and the country’s own resources to finance the SDGs.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
