By Majona Jabesi

Mchinji, February 15, Mana: The National Planning Commission (NPC) has raised an alarm over the country's slow progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), citing a lack of prioritisation and investment in key productive sectors.

Speaking during the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) meeting in Mchinji Friday, NPC Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Thokozani Lunda, said these issues have led to significant delays in achieving the SDGs, particularly those aimed at poverty reduction, quality education and others.

"We all know that resources are scarce and they are always scarce, so if we prioritise that is when we can use resources efficiently. So according to SDGs, we have several areas that we have to invest and after investing we have to realize something in the end. Which means if we are not prioritising it will take a long time to achieve these goals."

"Similarly, the productive sector is the one that can take us into the middle-income economy because if we focus solely on social projects, that means will be just consumption and this cannot bring any development. So we need to balance," Lunda explained.

Executive Director for Girls Activist Youth Organisation (GAYO), Richard Batchi, said SDGs are not just targets on paper but rather a roadmap for a more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous future.

"Yet, as we all know, the road to achieving these goals, particularly at the district and community levels, is filled with challenges.

"From limited resources and weak coordination to deeply entrenched cultural barriers, the work ahead of us requires more than just commitment; it demands action and collaboration across all sectors of society to have a successful implementation," Batchi said.

In her remarks, Mchinji District Commissioner's representative, Joyce Mtukuso who is also the principal community development officer, attributed the slow progress in SDGs implementation at the district level as a result of lack of awareness campaigns and enough funds.

"There is a huge gap in terms of information dissemination about SDGs, especially to local communities. But currently, we are trying to localise these SDGs in our vernacular language just to ensure that no one is left behind by 2030," Mtukuso said. 

The CSO meeting was organised by GAYO under the theme of 'Assessing SDGs Progress: A Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue in Mchinji'.