Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili Addresses UN General Assembly's SDG Summit
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, emphasizing the country's dedication to the 2030 Agenda. He highlighted the significant actions taken by the Georgian Government to strengthen its public service capabilities in order to tackle prevailing challenges.
Prime Minister Garibashvili expressed pride in Georgia's contributions to the SDGs and highlighted the multitude of initiatives and partnerships that Georgia has undertaken to promote sustainable economic growth, social development, and environmental protection.
Garibashvili also emphasized the Government's commitment to building coordination capacities and transparency mechanisms. As part of this effort, Georgia has established a monitoring system for real-time updates on SDG targets within the UN Sustainable Goals national agenda.
According to the Prime Minister, the country has become a global hub for business and finance. In 2021 and 2022, Georgia achieved double-digit economic growth, maintaining a high growth rate of 7.2% in the first seven months of 2023.
"Our Government has taken robust actions to advance the 2030 Agenda and build its public service capacities to address existing challenges, which is reflected in multiple global rankings: I am proud that Georgia's contributions to SDGs have made us a leader in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Through various initiatives and partnerships, Georgia is fostering sustainable economic growth, social development, and environmental protection.
In 2016, Georgia highlighted the inclusion of SDGs into its strategic documents and objectives in the first Voluntary National Review. This was followed by the second Review in 2020, which detailed SDG progress.
Georgia has identified all 17 SDGs and 93 targets as national priorities and has defined 200 indicators for tracking its progress. We also established the SDGs National Council to foster constructive, interpersonal dialogue.
Georgia is turning words into actions by aligning our national policies with SDGs. Our policy planning now integrates SDGs into our national processes so that new strategic documents align with our commitments.
My Government has further devised a Localization Plan in 2021 to integrate SDGs at the grassroots level. Currently, 32 out of 64 municipalities in Georgia are contributing to SDGs through the plan. By 2025, every municipality will sign on.
This localized pursuit aligns with our "Vision 2030 - Development Strategy of Georgia," which outlines key priorities for development in compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.
Our Government additionally seeks to build coordination capacities and transparency mechanisms. To this end, we have created a monitoring system for the UN Sustainable Goals national agenda for real-time updates on SDG targets.
Our significant advances position Georgia as a global hub for business and finance. Georgia is one of the world's fastest-growing economies, with double-digit economic growth recorded in 2021 and 2022. Growth remains high at 7.2% in January-July of 2023.
Georgia's position as a responsible global actor advancing the 2030 Agenda is reflected in its numerous policies aimed at reducing poverty, promoting social inclusion, improving education access, developing renewable energy, and utilizing eco-friendly tourism practices," Gharibashvili said.
