HÀ NỘI — A set of 158 indicators to monitor and supervise Việt Nam’s national action plan for the 2030 agenda on sustainable development was launched by the General Statistics Office with the support of GIZ on Tuesday in Hà Nội.

The set, which was approved by the Ministry of Planning and Investment on January 22, 2019, aims to provide authentic and empirical evidence with reliable, consistent, internationally comparable and easily accessible data, creating a stronger foundation for policy-making, implementing, managing and evaluating the implementation of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Việt Nam.  

Indicators are divided into category A, including 140 targets that need to be achieved immediately and category B of 18 others to be implemented from 2025.

On the principle of “leaving no one behind”, the set offers 55 statistical indicators related to children and 48 related to demographics and development.

It also touches upon issues of labour, gender, environment and climate change as well as people with disabilities.

According to GSO head Nguyễn Bích Lâm, the set reflects features of Việt Nam’s socio-economic developments and serves specific objectives in which gender equality, poverty and hunger eradication are among focuses.

“It presents policy-makers a more complete picture of the country’s status-quo in developing policies and mechanisms,” he said.

Lesley Miller, acting representative of UNICEF Việt Nam, expressed her high hopes on the set’s ability to approach vulnerable groups.

“We believe that the indicators are going to help Việt Nam improve the scope and the quality of its SDG-related data and allow better tracking of the national action plan on sustainable development,” she said.  

The set of indicators, following collaborative efforts of State agencies and international organisations will be used by all institutes to accelerate transparency and efficiency of the implementation of development policies.

In 2018, Việt Nam completed 12 SDG targets, of which four were reached and eight exceeded the requirements.

Việt Nam and other countries also committed to implementing the 2030 agenda on sustainable development, including 17 general goals and 115 specific objectives to ensure no one is left behind. — VNS