The Role of Government in Measuring Progress Towards SDGs Goals

This essay examines the critical role of governments in ensuring and measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It highlights the complexities of aligning policies with the 17 SDGs and 169 targets, emphasizing the need for horizontal collaboration and engagement of public and private actors. The essay discusses challenges such as adapting global targets to national contexts and the importance of inclusive processes. It also addresses the necessity of effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. The analysis further delves into the government's function in balancing social, economic, and environmental values, promoting sustainable development through policy implementation, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders. The essay concludes that governments play a crucial role in raising awareness, implementing, evaluating, and monitoring SDGs, underscoring the significance of partnerships for achieving a better world for future generations. Desklib is a valuable resource for students seeking similar solved assignments and study tools.

Running head: ROLE OF GOVERNMENT BASED ON SDG
ROLE OF GOVERNMENT BASED ON SDG
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2ROLE OF GOVERNMENT BASED ON SDG
Government role in Sustainable development
The role of government is getting complex as the central force influences the large range
of developing issues. The government is comprised of the political strategies, leadership and
management and the main responsibility of the government is to protect the people’s interest and
should invest in strategies for making every possible way to promote sustainable development.
Although there is the principal issue for the government based on the Sustainable Development
Goals is how to align the policies for practicing at the given breadth and the complexity of 17
SDGs and the 169 targets. This is also found out that the mixed track records of the governments
work horizontally and are due to involving the unprecedented ranges of the public as well as
private actors for dealing with the policy formulation as well as implementation (OECD). The
various phases make various challenges for the government. Like the adaptation of the global
targets for the national context and the development of targets at the different department, the
level is the delicate that the political tasks are required to be done in a careful manner. This also
shows that sensitive negotiation ensures that the inclusive process based on the real buy-in from
the key stakeholders is required for both within and beyond the government. This can be said
that the implementation of the Sustainable development goals is considered as the formidable
governance challenges that are required to be steered. In recognition of such challenges, there
has been found a shift in the thinking process as the last set of the global goals was agreed. SDGs
develop the significance of building up the effective, accountable and the inclusive institutions at
every level as it is the foundation of achieving the desired outcomes that is the end of poverty,
improvement in health, combating the climatic changes and the climatic effects (OECD).
Also, Van der Waldt (2015) argues that the issues of the government are mainly based
upon the social dimension of sustainability. The role of the government is mainly described as
the qualitative and the normative terms based on different concepts like community participation,
equity, transparency, and empowerment. Although the government and the governance functions
have transcended the social normative dimensions. The result of the government also creates an
effect on the two dimensions of sustainability is considered as the ecological and the economic
factors. This study appreciates the instrumental contributions as well as the normative
contributions of the government towards sustainable development. This requires a clear
understanding of the fact that how the interventions are connected with the economic, social and
ecological goals (Van der Waldt, 2015).
Sustainability refers to the achievement of the social, economic and environmental
values. Sustainability can be defined as how the biological systems endure remains diverse and
productive. According to the United Nation’s report of the world commission on environment
and development, 1987 suggests that sustainable development meets the requirement of the
present without compromising the well being for future generations. The concept of Sustainable
development has included the idea of the global society that is based on the respect for nature,
universal human rights, economic justice and the culture of peace. The sustainable society can be

3ROLE OF GOVERNMENT BASED ON SDG
achieved by equal access to health care, nutrition, clean water, shelter, employment, and
economic opportunities. The government should focus on building up a society where each
citizen will enjoy the high quality of life and there will be social justice for all. The major role of
the government is to sustain the social, economic and environmental values of the country.
Because of the increase rate of globalization the evaluation of sustainable development is getting
affected. Thus the government should focus on the issues that the society is facing regarding the
protection of environmental resources, economic growth, and social values. In the developmental
context it can be said that sustainability referred to the continuous challenge between the
required environmental modification and the intervention in nature and the sustainability is
considered as the process which can be maintained for the indefinite period. In such respect the
responsibility of the government is to balance the situation and strive towards the ecological and
the economical interests for coping with the ecological crisis without even affecting the existing
economic growth.
Although as per the OECD, another clear role of the government is to take the more
active mad the most active stance for reviewing and refining the policy implementations that are
connected to the complex strategies like the SDGs and there are various number of advantages as
firstly it creates the most flexible system for dealing with the necessary and the important
decision makers those can take actions as the remedy for the arising problem. Secondly, the
government can detect the blockages and the government could have become the preferred tools
for ensuring the close monitoring along with the countries for setting up one or more number of
teams based on the principal areas, policy, delivery, and strategy. They are even responsible for
building up the evidence bases of the citizen experiences and the expectations based on the
delivery of services as per the government priorities and this are often complex and needs the
management of the number of the departments belonging from the design stage towards the
implementation stage.
The achievement of progress throughout the SDGs will need the government to work as
per the policy areas and the delivery of the ambitious goals. Although this is not considered as
the easy task as there are obstacles to form the joined-up environment. Like the immediate
economic and the social pressure often disrupt the strategic initiatives of the policy. The public
budgets and the accountability systems are mostly associated with the department structures.
Thus also faces difficulty in tracking the progress and the valuable outcomes which accrue the
different policy areas. This study suggest that one of the most important institutions plays the
major role in steering the delivery of the SDGs by highlighting the trade-offs. This also enable
the policies across the areas of the issues that addresses the different areas and also competes for
the objectives that is the Centre of Government (OECD)

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This is quite obvious that the government are already comprised of the bodies and
agencies for assessing the good policies that could be implemented as the major contracts and the
performance team could supreme audit institutions as the finance ministry expenditure tracking
teams and the other. They also provide the necessary information’s for ensuring the
accountability and the track measuring and the spending outputs but it usually has their own
benchmarks and the reporting requirements that often lack the performance overview which
would be required to monitor SDGs.
This study found out that the governments apply the holistic analysis for determining the
problems as well as the solution in the policy. Like the health care policies of the South
Australian Government’s proposal takes up a ‘joined-up’ policy development approach for
achieving the better policy outcomes and also improves the health and well being of the
population. This study suggests that this approach type is based upon the understandings of the
fact that health cannot be considered as the product whereas it could be influenced by the social
economical and environmental determinants of the health. Like this the Australian department of
health is considered as the part of the government’s step of addressing the cultural as well as
social determinants of the health for accelerating the progress in the gap between the aboriginals,
non-aboriginals and the health indicators of Torres Strait Islander.
Another function of the government is to make sure that the executive branch, the civil
service is completely skilled, capable and have complete capacity to deal with the problems of
the Sustainable development. The Public officials’ expertise is one of the important part in
implementation of the different program and strategies, which are developed by the government.
There is a need for the civil service to be resourced for the operation built up.
This study suggests that on the basis of the overview that the integrative responses of
sustainable development are considered as a necessity. This study also suggests that the
government is required to design the integrative strategies for bringing the sustainable
development that combines the social, economic and ecological concerns while planning and
managing the task towards sustainability. The decision taken by the government should ensure
that there remains a vigilant balance among the requirements of the social development,
environmental protection and economic growth (Pearce, Markandya and Barbier 1989:5). This
study also concludes that the three important dimensions those are taken from the essay of John
Robinson and Jon Tinker (1997, cited in Van der Waldt), determines that the standards of the
standard elements of the sustainability, wealth, and society are considered as three interacting,
interconnected and the overlap of prime systems. The ecological measurement is considered as
the requirement for remaining within the biophysical ability of the Earth and this also ensures
and maintains the effective standard of living. This is mainly done by focusing on providing the
social structures that include the governance systems, which effectively propagates and sustain
people values and wishes to live upon (Robinson and Tinker 1997:72-82, cited in Van der

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Waldt). Therefore this can be said that each and every system is necessary for the collective
society’s survival based on the particular and humankind general.
Conclusion
Therefore it can be concluded that the importance of sustainable development is
constantly increasing and it focuses on the using of resources in a responsible manner for
ensuring the current and the future generations those fulfill the needs of the resources. For
adopting the policies of the sustainable development the United Nations Conference conducted
in Rio de Janeiro issued the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2012. The UN has
developed 17 SDGs and 169 targets those were included in the new universal agenda those are
applicable for all the countries related to the stages of development. The SDG was specifically
built upon the Millennium Developmental goals those were mostly focused on the identification
of the human rights for the establishment of the equal policies for every woman. All these goals
are mostly integrated in order to include the three main areas that are economic, social and
environmental facts. For the achievement of such goals the business, society, and government
play a major role as the achievement is mostly based upon the partnership for creating better
situations and a better world for the future generations. This study found out that the government
plays a major role in spreading awareness for the recognition of the importance of achieving
goals by ensuring that this could be achieved in the timeframe that was set. This study also
showed the arguments related to the important role of the government and the various
stakeholders for implementing, evaluating and monitoring of SDGs throughout the world. This
study suggests that stakeholders are important both within and beyond the government. This
study also declared that the implementation of the Sustainable development also brings
formidable challenges, which are required to be stirred. This study found out that their various
phases develop various challenges for the government like the adoption of global targets and
others.